Yes. As a starter, Portland needs water conservation. The City of Portland could easily reward conservers and charge the "water hogs" high fees. This has been done in SoCal for years.

So its official...tax money really does go down the toilet.

D'ya think that our Portland city council, being greener than most, would replace our regular flushers with those composting toilets?

Jack,

We do provide conservation devices to our retail customers free of charge. You can get more conservation information by going to our website at this link: http://www.portlandonline.com/water/index.cfm?c=29618&. To request any of the devices listed, you can order online or call 503-823-7439.
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We don’t offer toilet rebates because over the years we have found that the cost of toilets is low enough that the payback for homeowners is relatively quick. We think it doesn't make sense for the City to put our limited conservation dollars towards toilet rebates.

If you currently have a 3.5 gallon per flush toilet and you have 3 people in your house (the average person flushes 5 times per day) your toilet costs you $191 per year (assuming current water and sewer rates of $7.72 per CCF or $0.01 per gallon). Changing the toilet to a 1.6 gpf model reduces your cost to $87.60 per year. There are new toilets on the market, called High Efficiency toilets (HETs) that use 1.28 gallons per flush which if you got this type would only cost you $70.08 per year. It’s fairly easy to realize savings of $100 or more each year on changing out a toilet.

One of the things we advise our customers on is that not all toilets are created equal. There is a huge difference in toilet performance. Luckily there are independent water conservation professionals who have taken on this issue - and there are several studies that measure toilet performance. Below are a few links to the studies:

1.6 gallon per flush toilets = These have been around since 1993, and there is great variation in performance. Here is a link to a study which compares performance, it’s a large file - but if you think this subject is interesting.... http://www.cuwcc.org/uploads/product/MaP-10th-Edition-07-08-21.pdf

Here is a link to the appendix which rates the toilets. This is probably enough info for you... http://www.cuwcc.org/uploads/product/MaP-10th-Edition-Appendix-B-07-08-21.pdf

1.28 gallon per flush toilets = These a pretty new to the market, but have been well tested. There is a new program called Water Sense, which is labeling toilets (and faucets) that are water efficient and perform well. It’s the water equivalent of the Energy Star labels. To find a list of these toilet models visit: http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/pp/find_het.htm

David Shaff
Portland Water Bureau

In 93' the city of portland water bureau did give rebates up to 150.00 to purchase low flush toilets. That's how we got ours.