Ultra-low Flush Toilets Giveaway a 300 Unit Success

BY HORST MEISTER

Staff Writer

WRIGHTWOOD, CA - Southern California Water Company (SCWC) said they'd distribute 200 new Ultra-low flush toilets on August 24. Well, they didn't. SCWC distributed more than 300 free ULFTs.

" I promised we wouldn't run out," said SCWC vice president Joe Young. Young said that SCWC trucked 400 units to Wrightwood for the Saturday program to make sure they'd have enough. "We run most of these programs in conjunction with public entities like DWP," said Young. "Up here, there's just us."

Along with each ULFT, customers received a plastic bucket containing a survey form, a couple of low-flow faucet aerators, and a pistol-grip hose nozzle with four settings. In exchange for receiving the free $150 toilet, customers are asked to install it before September 7.

SCWC will be back on Saturday 7 to collect the old toilets for recycling. Young knows that many Wrightwood residences are weekend homes and promised to make other arrangements to pick up the old toilets. SCWC customers who received to install it and turn in their old toilets for recycling. Customers who don't fulfill these conditions might find a charge of $150 for the ULFT on their water bill.

Niagara Conservation Corporation the manufacturer of the Flapperless ULFTs that SCWC distributed, brought their demonstration truck to Wrightwood. Operations and Business development manager Edgar Aranda demonstrated the Flapperless model. "In order to sell this toilet in Canada, we had to pass the CSA [Canadian Standards Association] tests", said Aranda. "A quarter-million flushes without a failure. We passed".

Aranda ran the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) test. He dumped 100 plastic balls, each five-eights inch diameter, into the bowl and flushed the toilet. All of the balls went down. "You have to average 98.3 percent of these balls for a complete flush," said Aranda. "We usually get a hundred percent."

Steve Torres, a Niagara representative, said that the first generation of low-flush toilets often had problems doing a complete flush. "You'd have to hit it two or three times," said Torres. Torres said that their design eliminated these problems.

Bill Cuter, president of Niagara Conservation, said their Flapperless model was superior to the competition's on several points. "There's no flexible seal," said Cutler. Chlorine and chloramines in the water destroy flexible seals. A seal lasts two or three years, then you have to replace it."

Niagara's design eliminates flexible seals by using a small polypropylene tank to hold the flush water. The polypropylene tank holds exactly 1.6 gallons of water. Actuating the flush lever tips the tank on its side, dumping the tank's contents into the toilet in one motion. "This design is so simple, its brain-dead," said Cutler. "You tip the tank, the water falls out. Gravity flush. There's no adjustments, and nothing to go wrong."

Cutler said the fill valve is made by Fluidmaster, the acknowledged leader in the field of plumbing valves. The fill tube is copper, not plastic.

Another advantage of using a small tank to hold the flush water is that toilet cannot use more than 1.6 gallon of water per flush. The plastic tank won't hold more water than that.

Cutler said that his Flapperless model was specifically designed for retrofits. The bowl's base is large enough to cover the footprint of any other toilet on the market. "No flooring work," said Cutler. The porcelain tank is full-sized. "You don't have to paint the wall," said Cutler. "The tank will cover your old paint." The tank is also adjustable for different offsets.

Published by the Mountaineer Progress, August 29- September 4, 2002