This Article appears in our November 2005 Newsletter
Save Money on Utility Bills
Looking for ways to reduce your apartment utility bill or condo’s fees? Consider replacing those water-guzzling toilets. Older less efficient toilets use more water per flush (up to 24 litres), increasing your water consumption and your monthly water bill. By replacing these toilets with today’s new low flow models (6 litres per flush), apartments will notice substantial savings on their water bill.
When picking a low flush toilet there are a few things to consider; payback periods, what toilets to replace and what they should be replaced with. Payback periods will vary depending on the volume of the toilet that is to be changed, the cost of the toilet you choose and the number of times per day it is flushed. The following are examples of payback periods: a unit that has four residents would have the toilet paid for in 0.75 years to 1.6 years, while a 6 resident unit would have a payback period of 0.5 years to 1 year. The following graph illustrates the estimated payback periods, monthly consumption compared to the number of residents in each unit. This is based on a toilet that cost $200 (high performance toilet prices range from $80-$900).
Which toilets should be replaced first? If the whole building isn’t going to be retrofitted at the same time,
it is important to consider which units should have the toilets replaced first. Retrofitting the units that have the most tenants and the greatest flush volume will give the fastest financial payback.
Which toilets to choose for replacement? The City of Calgary has participated in toilet testing with the Canadian Waterworks and Wastewater Association to understand what a high performance low flush toilet is. This research has shown that not all low flush toilets perform the same, nor can they all guarantee the expected water savings. Choose high performing toilets when replacing to ensure your tenants are satisfied (fewer maintenance calls) and to ensure you see water and financial savings. The toilet testing report can be found at www.cwwa.ca and follow the link to free publications. To learn more about The City’s criteria for high performance toilets visit www.calgary.ca/toilets.
More water saving information can be found at www.calgary.ca/waterworks/ici and then choose multi-family residents. Or call 268-CITY.
