Bathroom fixtures

Ok, after a long hiatus, I'm going to try and catch up a bit since we should be done with the house next week! And I know, if anyone is still reading this in the month of July, you're thinking "toilets!?"

Selecting plumbing fixtures was actually one of the easiest tasks for me, as there are many manufacturers making fixtures that have water saving characteristics. And while our region of the country has no serious water shortages (we are in the Finger Lakes region of Central NY after all, where rainfall is quite plentiful), there are still some important issues to consider: 1. Using fresh water treated for drinking for tasks that hardly require such a level of treatment (toilets); 2. The expense associated with the treatment and disposal of water that ultimately turn up in our sewer and water bills; and 3. It takes energy to treat water to acceptable drinking and disposal levels, so the less we can use, the lower our energy footprint for this important resource. I'm not going to talk about the merits of "graywater" systems (those that recycle water from showers, clothes washers, or faucets for use in toilets), or rainwater systems that capture water from the roof to use in the house, because there are places to find the technical information pertaining to these systems and their benefits/challenges.

The Energy Policy Act of 1992 mandated the use of water-conserving plumbing fixtures and fittings to reduce water use in residential, commercial and institutional settings. Since, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria, as well as local water control measures in dry regions like the southwest, have driven the industry even further.  To meet Energy Policy Act mandates, a standard toilet uses 1.6 gal/flush (gpf). The standard faucet will use 2.5 gal/minute (gpm), and the standard shower uses 2.2 gpm. For LEED, there are two levels of high efficiency fixtures that once can employ (in pursuit of points):

High Efficiency Fixtures: The average flow rate for all lavatory faucets must be less than or equal to 2.0 gpm; the average flow rate for all showers must be less than or equal to 2.0 gpm per stall; and the average flow rate for all toilets must be less than or equal to 1.3 gpf (or toilets must meet the U.S. EPA WaterSense specification and be certified and labeled accordingly).

Very High Efficiency Fixtures: These must meet an average flow rate for all lavatory faucets that is less than or equal to 1.5 gpm, or they must meet the U.S. EPA WaterSense specification; the average flow rate for all showers must be less than or equal to 1.75 gpm per stall; and the average flow rate for all toilets must be less than or equal to 1.10 gpf.

One of the sources I used to research low flow toilets (I was less concerned about faucets performing poorly) was the Maximum Performance (MaP) Testing protocol. According to the California Water Conservation Council,

The Maximum Performance (MaP) testing project was developed in 2003 in order to identify how well popular toilet models perform using a realistic test media. The MaP testing protocol, cooperatively developed by water-efficiency and plumbing fixture specialists in the U.S. and Canada, incorporated the use of soybean paste as a test media, closely replicating the "real world demand" upon fixtures. Performance testing of 80 different toilet fixture models was completed and summarized in the Final Report (1st Edition - December 2003). That report led to the further evolution of testing and reporting on toilet fixtures and their flush performance. 

Now 8 years old, the current MaP testing report provides performance information on over 1,800 different toilet fixture models (including both tank-type and commercial flushometer combinations) !!! Over 940 these models are WaterSense-certified high-efficiency toilets (HETs).


So, if you are researching a new toilet option, you definitely want to visit this site (they use paste in sausage casings!!!) where product information is updated every two months: http://www.map-testing.com/. 


And now, I know you are asking (at the edge of your seats....), so what did you choose? The following:


American Standard's Flowise, Dual Flush toilet that uses only .8 gpf for liquids, and the common 1.6 gpf for solids. Signage will be placed above all toilets to help educate users. The kids are REALLY excited about the dual button feature, so our water use might be a little high in the beginning. LEED provides a nifty equations for calculating water use in households based on the number of "full flush" and "partial flush" visits occupants will make to the toilet, and using this our toilets will comply with the 1.10 gpf standard. Toto also makes excellent and proven low flow toilets (their EcoDrake Toilet uses 1.28 gpf), and a company called Niagara Stealth offers single flush toilets that offer 1.0 and .8 gpf options. 


For our other fixtures, we selected Grohe Water Care products. Luckily, our builder has a relationship with the local plumbing supplier F.W. Webb in East Syracuse, so the pricing was reasonable. Grohe's reputation for high quality, long lasting fixtures is well established. The only exception is for our shower heads: for some reason, Grohe's standard shower head, offering three setting options, was nearly 50% more than a model with the same functions and 1.75 gpm flowrate from Moen. So all of our fixtures, including the kitchen faucet (which didn't need to comply with LEED standards because under LEED for Homes they're treated as utility faucets--e.g. your going to use as much water as you need to fill a pot to boil pasta) will meet the 1.50 gpm flow rate. 


Ok, the only final thing I'll mention about plumbing is that we designed our water distribution system to be very compact, minimizing branch run lengths (from the water heater) and using insulated PEX piping (R-4) to ensure that heated water doesn't lose temperature as it travels to the outlet.