City to Give Away Low-Flush Toilets

Free ultra-low-flush toilets will be distributed to the first 400 residential water customers who turn up at City Hall on Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon.

Up to two toilets and installation parts may be obtained by city of Camarillo water customers to replace toilets in their homes that use at least 3 1/2 gallons of water per flush.

Residents who participated in previous city low-flow toilet programs are not eligible. A picture ID and a city water bill are required to verify eligibility.

Participating customers have two weeks to install their new toilets. Old toilets must be returned to the same site on Feb. 7 between 8 a.m. and noon to avoid a $100 charge per toilet on the next water bill.

Ultra-low-flush toilets can reduce water consumption by as much as 35 gallons per day, water division officials said.

Homeowners should measure the offset of their current toilet fixture’s bolts from the bathroom wall to make sure it will fit the 12-inch offset of the low-flow toilet.

Participants are asked to enter the City Hall parking lot from Paseo Camarillo.

Last month the Pleasant Valley Lions Club was selected through a drawing to assist in the project and will earn $15 per distributed toilet, up to $6,000, paid by the city through a grant from the Metropolitan Water District of Los Angeles.

Old toilets will be taken to a cement factory where they will be ground up and used for road base.

For more information about the distribution program, call 388-5373.