Toronto Mayor David Miller and the mayors of 28 other Great Lakes municipalities have called for a ban on inefficient toilets.
According to National Post, Miller feels that outlawing old-fashioned toilets would help 20 Canadian and nine U.S. cities meet their newly announced goal of reducing water consumption to 15% below 2000 levels by the year 2015.
At the fourth annual meeting of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative in Grand Rapids, Mich., Miller expressed his feelings about the necessity of having provincial legislation about low-flow toilets. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative is a coalition of Canadian and U.S. mayors, founded by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley in 2003. The group’s focus is the protection of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.
National Post reports that Miller announced that Toronto is already on the way to its goal. Toronto’s water conservation plan, which was put in place since 2001, should cost $74.3 million over 10 years, but would save Toronto more than $220 million in infrastructure costs and $29 million annually in operating costs.
Currently, Toronto requires that low-flow toilets be installed in all new homes. These toilets use about six liters a flush. However, the old-fashioned toilets, which use up to 23 liters per flush, can still be purchased and installed in home renovations.
Source: National Post
