Water-Saving Devices Now Required to Sell, Remodel Home : Plumbing: City Council action affects owners of homes, condos and apartments, and marks the final phase in a federal court order issued over sewage treatment violations.
Satisfying the final portion of a federal court order, the San Diego City Council voted Tuesday to require people who own a house, apartment building or condominium to install low-flow toilets, shower heads and faucets before remodeling or selling their property.
To avoid the problem of approvals needed by the thousands who fall under the new regulations, the council is requiring that a “water conservation certificate” be obtained from the city’s building inspection department for $10, rather than a more costly plumbing permit.
But officials were quick to concede that they have no power to enforce the program and must rely on the sellers’ honesty.
With final approval for the new ordinance expected in two weeks, the council will have met all the requirements ordered by U.S. District Judge Rudi Brewster, who fined the city $3 million in March after concluding that it had caused substantial environmental damage by failing to adequately treat its sewage.
“It is our belief that we have covered all the bases,” said Marguerite S. Strand, a deputy city attorney who has worked for months on city regulations related to Brewster’s ruling.
Of the $3-million fine, $2.5 million was to be placed in a program earmarked for water conservation measures to be implemented by Jan. 1, 1992.
As part of his ruling, Brewster set forth three measures that had to be met by the deadline, or the money would be forfeited to the U.S. government.
The council met two of those requirements earlier this year. In March, even before Brewster’s ruling, it required the installation of low-flow shower heads and faucets in all new construction.
And, in May, it offered rebates of up to $100 per home for people who replaced their toilets with new low-flow units--those that use only 1.6 gallons per flush. So far, more than 6,000 people have been given rebates, depleting a $500,000 account for such purposes. Water officials say they have requested $1 million more from the council for the program.
Although those who own single-family homes, condos and apartments with eight toilets or fewer need only obtain a certificate that signifies their compliance with the low-flow upgrade, all others--such as owners of hotels and commercial buildings--must get plumbing permits that require a city inspector’s visit before sale or remodeling.
But little enforcement or inspection will result, whether the certificates are filled out or not.
“We will be relying on the honesty of people,” said Milon Mills, director of the city’s water utilities department. “We expect them to tell the truth. If they go to all the trouble of filling out one of the certificates, we figure they’ve done the work.”
The certificates are being required, for the most part, to keep a record for the city and for the judge of how many households have taken part in the program, officials said.
To calculate the number of low-flush toilets that will be installed and how much water will be saved, council members Bruce Henderson and Ron Roberts requested a six-month study of the program.
Representatives of the San Diego Assn. of Realtors complained that the city would not conserve much water, instead placing “a major burden on a small segment of properties,” according to a statement from the 5,000-member group, whose job is to buy and sell homes.
Statistics compiled by the association show that 15,000 of the city’s 250,000 single homes were sold last year, leading the group to assert that “the city may wind up spending more to enforce a mandatory retrofit program than it will achieve in water savings,” according to Bill Opie, the group’s president.
Targeting newly sold homes for mandatory replacement of toilets will create “a false illusion of conservation” and do little to save water, he said.
Most homes built in the city after 1983 already have toilets that use 3.5 gallons or less per flush, and their plumbing will not have to be altered, city officials said. But any home that is resold or remodeled with toilets that use more than that amount will have to be converted to tanks using 1.6 gallons per flush.
City Council members and Mayor Maureen O’Connor expressed concern over those who now must comply, especially in the midst of tough economic times. But nobody spoke of opposing the Brewster plan and losing the $2.5 million.
Those who do not comply are guilty of an “infraction,” accorded by the city’s municipal code. Council members changed the original wording of the ordinance, which had mandated that violation of the law be charged as a misdemeanor.
The water conservation measures are only part of a broader demand by Brewster that the city upgrade its sewer system by 1993 to comply with the federal Clean Water Act, which the judge accused the city of violating almost continually since it was enacted in 1972.
