Fines Set for Failing to Save Water : Santa Monica: Those residents who don’t replace water-guzzling plumbing with low-flow fixtures face a penalty of $1 a month.

Santa Monica residents soon will have a new incentive to conserve water: They’ll be charged a monthly fine if they don’t.

On a 5-2 vote, the City Council Tuesday night approved the fines--or “conservation incentive fees,” as city officials prefer to call them--as part of its five-year, $2.9-million program to conserve water by replacing water-guzzling plumbing fixtures with low-flow fixtures.

State water officials said they believe the law, which takes effect July 1, would make Santa Monica the first California city to require the installation of water-saving fixtures in existing residences.

The law calls for residents and landlords to replace old toilets with new ones that use a maximum of 1.6 gallons per flush, and to install shower heads that limit flow to 3 gallons or less per minute.

After July 1, owners of single-family residences who have not complied will have $1 a month added to their water bills, and owners of multifamily buildings will be charged 65 cents each month per unit. Commercial properties are not affected.

All residents will be charged the fine through their water bill until the new fixtures are inspected and verified by city officials.

Low-flow toilets cost from $99 to $250, according to city officials. They estimate that single-family homeowners can recoup their costs through lower water bills in 9 1/2 to 21 months, depending on whether they install the fixtures themselves or hire a plumber. For apartment owners, the pay-back period ranges from 11 months to two years.

Santa Monica already requires low-flow toilets and shower heads in all new construction. Similar laws are in effect in Los Angeles and many other California cities.

Los Angeles and several other cities also require retrofitting of existing homes whenever they are sold. But a spokesman at the State Department of Water Resources’ drought center said Santa Monica’s new monthly charge on existing residences was unprecedented.

To encourage residents to retrofit, Santa Monica is giving away 1,000 new toilets to residents on a first-come, first-served basis. Cash rebates of $100 per bathroom will also be given to residents who retrofit.

Santa Monica’s conservation coordinator, Atossa Soltani, said about 1,300 new toilets have been installed so far in the city. About 700 of the free toilets and about $41,000 in rebates have been distributed so far to property owners.

The city has set a goal of retrofitting 25% of the city’s 11,400 single-family homes and 36,500 units of multifamily housing within the next five years. If that goal is reached, at the end of the five years about 936 acre-feet of water could be saved annually, or about 835,200 gallons per day.

But so far the city is behind schedule. To achieve its goal, about 4,000 toilets would have to be installed each year, according to Soltani. At the current rate, less than 3,000 new toilets would be installed by the end of the year.

According to Metropolitan Water District estimates, 45% of all water used in a household is flushed down toilets. About 30% of the water is used for bathing.