What are Dual Flush Retrofit Kits?

Dual flush toilets save thousands of gallons of water a year and reduce your water bills. Up until recently you had to spend upwards of three hundred dollars for a new dual flush toilet. Now several companies offer dual flush toilet conversion kits that are easy to install and achieve the same results as buying an new toilet. They work on almost any low flush 1.6 gallon toilet and turn it into a dual flush toilet.

Why Dual Flush?

Dual flush toilets have been common in water scarce regions around the world for decades. In Australia most toilets are dual flush. They feature two buttons, or two lever positions, one for solids and one for liquids.

Since we use the bathroom more often for "liquids" so to say, we don't need to flush all 1.6 gallons from a low flush toilet down the drain. Instead we can get by for small flushes with just half of that.

Imagine saving almost one gallon for those kinds of flushes and you can see how quickly a dual flush conversion kit can pay for itself.

How Hard Is It To Convert Your Toilet To Dual Flush?

It takes someone with basic handyman skills about thirty minutes to convert a regular low flush , 1.6 gallon toilet to dual flush. It involves removing the bolts that hold the tank onto the bowl, disconnecting the water line and taking the tank off.

Next you remove the old flush valve assembly and replace the plastic hardware with the dual flush conversion kit. These sell for about thirty dollars and come with two flush lever - button options.

How Much Water Will a Dual Flush Retrofit Kit Save?

The best part is that a dual flush conversion kit will pay for itself in about two months at most city's water rates. Say for example you have a family of five and each person flushes for "liquids" about four times a day. That is twenty flushes wasting .8 gallons if you are not using a dual flush toilet.

Once you install the retrofit kit the same twenty flushes will use 16 gallons less water. At sixteen gallons a day, more than many families around the world use a week, you can expect to save almost six thousand gallons of water a year.

Depending on were you live that six thousand gallons can cost you from sixty dollars to three hundred dollars. There are not many green products that are so simple and inexpensive and yet pay you back so fast.

The Coming Water Crisis

It's front page news in many parts of the United States: "Water Shortage". Perhaps because of global warming or just population growth, water supplies around the country are being forced to require water rationing and increase rates for residential and commercial customers to curb demand. It will only get worse in the coming decade so now might be a good time to start making your home more water efficient with products like a dual flush toilet.

You can find more water saving ideas at Savegreenly.com