High-Efficiency Toilets and Urinals
Overview
The proposed high-efficiency toilet (HET) and urinal (HEU) requirements are another step the Province is taking to increase water efficiency.
Toilets and urinals represent 30% to 40% of domestic water use, both in households and in commercial and institutional buildings. Installation of more efficient models results in significant water savings. While the Building Code currently requires toilets with a 6-litre flush volume, high-efficiency toilets, which have a flush volume of 4.8 litres or less, are now available.
The Building and Safety Policy Branch surveyed local governments in January 2009 to gauge their support for HET/HEU requirements. Support for province-wide HET and HEU requirement was high.
High-Efficiency Toilets
High-efficiency toilets (HETs) have a maximum flush volume of 4.8 litres. Dual-flush toilets are classified as HETs because the ratio of reduced flushes (up to 4.1 litres) to full flushes (up to 6 litres) results in an effective flush volume that is less than 4.8 litres.
While some early low-consumption toilets did not perform well, in recent testing by Veritec Consulting and Koeller and Company, all of the high-efficiency models (over 100) demonstrated good to excellent flushing performance.
According to several recent research reports, HETs have no difficulty meeting the waste transport requirements typical of residential drainline installations. However, when HETs are installed in industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) buildings, there are concerns about the drainline carry of a 4.8 litre flush volume. Until further research on drainline transport issues becomes available, the Code’s HET requirement will be limited to residential buildings, except for tank-type toilets in ICI buildings, which must be dual-flush.
Availability of HETs is still somewhat limited, but costs are comparable to quality 6-litre models. A six-month lead-in period for an HET requirement would enable suppliers to reduce existing inventory and bring in new HET stock.
Rationale
- Toilets represent 30% to 40% of domestic water use in households and industrial, commercial and institutional buildings.
- On average, high-efficiency toilets use at least 20% less water than the 6-litre models that are currently required in BC.
Proposal
Tank-type toilets installed in new ICI buildings (or when major renovations occur), would be required to be dual-flush. The requirement for direct flush toilets with a maximum flush cycle of 6 litres would remain unchanged.
High-efficiency (4.8 litre) toilets or dual-flush toilets would be required in new residential buildings (or when major renovations occur).
Text of proposed Code requirement
High-Efficiency Urinals
A high-efficiency urinal (HEU) is a fixture with a flush volume of 1.9 litres or less. While a performance testing protocol similar to that for toilets has not yet been developed for HEUs, flushing HEUs must meet the same performance standards as other flushing urinals sold in North America. Because the flush volume of a urinal can often be set at either 3.8 litres or 1.9 litres through the flushometer valve, the cost and availability of HEUs is the same as that of higher-volume urinals.
Rationale
- High-efficiency urinals (HEUs) use approximately one-third of the amount of water used to flush the average urinal.
- Based on average usage, a single HEU can save close to 18,000 litres of water per year.
Proposal
Whenever urinals are installed, high-efficiency (1.9 litre) urinals would be required in all new buildings (or when major renovations occur).
Text of proposed Code requirement
Implementation
We are committed to providing lead-in time to allow those who use the code to prepare for the changes. Once analysis of the feedback is complete we will move forward with implementation.
