This guide provides an overview of low-flow toilets and their role in water conservation. It covers the benefits of low-flow toilets, the different types available, and tips for installation and maintenance. It also offers advice on how to reduce water usage in the bathroom
A low-flush toilet is a flush toilet that uses significantly less water than traditional high-flow toilets. Before the early 1990s in the United States, standard flush toilets typically required at least 3.5 gallons per flush and they used float valves that often leaked, increasing their total water use. In the early 1990s, because of concerns about water shortages, and because of improvements in toilet technology, some states and then the federal government began to develop water-efficiency standards for appliances, including toilets, mandating that new toilets use less water. The first standards required low-flow toilets of 1.6 gallons per flush. Further improvements in the technology to overcome concerns about the initial poor performance of early models have further cut the water use of toilets and while federal standards stagnate at 1.6 gallons per flush, certain states' standards toughened up to require that new toilets use no more than 1.28 gallons per flush, while working far better than older models. Low-flush toilets include single-flush models and dual-flush toilets, which typically use 1.6 US gallons per flush for the full flush and 1.28 US gallons or less for a reduced flush.