Low-flow toilet regulations being introduced on P.E.I.

The P.E.I. government is introducing new regulations which will require all new toilets and urinals to be low-flow.

The rules are set to come into effect June 1.

In a typical older model toilet, each flush uses about 14 litres of water — enough drinking water to comfortably sustain an adult human for up to five days.

New low-flow toilets cut water usage by more than half.

“It’s the right thing to do. We live in an age where water is very important to us, water quality is very important to us and we are using water at an ever-growing rate so we have to be careful with our precious resource,” said Steve Townsend, with P.E.I.’s Environment Department.  

The City of Charlottetown asked the province to bring in the new rules, and helped develop the regulations.

“It was lovely to be informed by the province that they are going to start to introduce the new legislation which will mean more water savings in the future to the whole of Prince Edward Island,” said Charlottetown Coun. Edward Rice.

The city said through its rebate program, more than 700 older toilets have been replaced with new low-flow models.

Each one of those low-flow toilets saves the city an estimated 27,000 litres of water each year.

At a Home Hardware store in Charlottetown, Don O’Connell said all of the toilets for sale are low-flow models. He said low-flow still has a reputation, for not always getting the job done.

“When they first started producing the low-flow flush toilets, there were concerns because they were basically lowering the volume of water but they weren’t doing anything with the internal structure of the toilet bowl or tank but today the toilets have drastically improved,” O’Connell.

The province said more changes could be coming further down the road, leading to low-flow shower heads and faucets in Island homes.