considerably more water per fl ush: 3.5 gallon,
5 gallon, and even 7 gallon toilets are still
being used. By simply replacing an older, high
volume toilet with a high effi ciency toilet,
thousands of gallons of water could be saved
in a single household.
Prior to July 2007, the Holiday Inn Select had
3.5 gallon per fl ush toilets installed in their 397
guest rooms. Through the SAWS commercial
program, Caroma Sydney 270 elongated
toilets were chosen to replace the older toilets.
The Sydney 270 elongated toilets, as well as
all Caroma toilets, are high effi ciency and
dual fl ush. Being dual fl ush, the user has two
options for fl ushing. A full fl ush for solid waste
uses 1.6 gallons of water per fl ush. A half fl ush
is used for liquid and paper waste and uses
only 0.8 gallons of water per fl ush. Based on
a one to four solid to liquid fl ush ratio, the
Sydney range of toilets averages only 0.96
gallons per fl ush. Comparing that to the 3.5
gallon toilets previously installed, each Caroma
toilet installed saves more than 2.5 gallons per
fl ush.
“Installing the Caroma dual fl ush toilets are
one of the best ways to conserve water,”
states Larsen. “After just one month of use,
the water savings were tremendous. It is
amazing to think that if we are only at 50%
occupancy and have three fl ushes per room,
we’d save more than 1500 gallons of water
– in just one day! Combining the savings
from the Caroma toilets and high effi ciency
showerheads, we expect to save about 6.9
million gallons of water per year.”
The water savings have been impressive. For
example, when comparing January-November
2006 versus 2008 indoor water usage results,
the Holiday Inn Select saved more than 4.4
million gallons of water, averaging a 31%
savings each month.
Replacing other toilets with Caroma dual
fl ush toilets are an easy process. According
to Larsen, “The installation process went very