The purpose of this study was to evaluate and estimate water savings that accrued from the replacement of slightly less than 5,000 aging high-volume toilets1 in 80 multi-family residential and commercial properties within the service area of the Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD). The replacement toilets chosen for the project were all High-Efficiency Toilets (HETs).
The SCVWD engaged the services of an experienced retrofit contractor to perform the replacements; licensed plumbers were used to install all toilet fixtures. The replacements that are the subject of this study all took place during a period of approximately four years from July 2007 to May 2011. Except for a few instances noted later, all replacement installations involved only the toilet. SCVWD reports that other plumbing or appliance items within the subject properties were not replaced during the period of savings analysis.
The program was implemented in Santa Clara County. Water use data for the study was provided by the Cities of Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Palo Alto and SunnyvalE.
