Flush with Excitement

10 stylish toilets that save water

By Bruce Greenlaw

“Choosing a green toilet is not enough,” says Nathan Good, an architect, interior designer and green building consultant based in Salem, Oregon. “Aesthetics and character also carry a huge role. Does the toilet complement the décor? Is it comfortable and easy to clean?”

The good news is that Caroma, Kohler and Toto now offer a stunning variety of toilets that carry the EPA’s new WaterSense label, and other companies are ramping up. That means there’s a stylish, user-friendly option for virtually any application, and the toilets use less than the standard 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf) without sacrificing flushing power. If all Americans switched to these toilets, we’d save nearly 640 billion gallons of water per year—more than a two-week flow over Niagara Falls.

Here’s a sampler of these WaterSense-labeled toilets, including conventional models that use up to 1.28 gpf and dual-flush models that use a full flush of up to 1.6 gallons for evacuating solid waste and a mini flush for light or liquid waste:

Caroma introduced the world’s first dual-flush toilets to Australia back in 1983, and it now sells them worldwide. The gravity-fed Adelaide Cube delivers either 1.6 or 0.8 gpf and sports a skirted bowl that’s easy to clean. It offers a standard rim height of 15 inches or an Easy Height of 16.5 inches. Here it’s paired with Caroma’s Leda Vasque above-counter sink. The toilet comes in white or biscuit, and costs $596 and up. caromausa.com

Caroma’s frugal new gravity-fed Sydney Smart dual-flush toilet delivers either 1.28 or 0.8 gpf and averages just 0.89 gpf―which is the best on the market. It reportedly saves an average family of four about 5,100 gallons of water per year versus a 1.6 gpf toilet. Available in white or biscuit, it costs $319 and up. caromausa.com

The new gravity-fed Jacuzzi Espree toilet uses 1.28 gpf and has a 17-inch Perfect Height seat that’s easy on the knees. A concealed trapway promotes easy cleaning. It comes in white and costs $450. jacuzzi.com

Unveiled in 2007, Kohler’s chic Fountainhead bath suite includes everything from marble lavatories to maple furniture. The new one-piece tankless Comfort Height Fountainhead toilet is powered by a quiet internal electric pump that delivers a strong 1.28 gpf and features a heated seat with three temperature settings and a built-in LED night-light. It comes in a variety of colors and costs $3,800 and up. kohler.com

Inspired by the wind, Kohler’s new one-piece, gravity-fed, dual-flush Saile toilet has a concealed trapway that hides the seat inside the lid and installs snugly against the wall for a minimalist appearance and easy cleaning. It consumes 1.6 or 0.8 gpf, is white and costs $620. kohler.com

The gravity-fed, dual-flush Sterling Rockton toilet, which is made by Kohler for builders and do-it-yourselfers, proves that stylish WaterSense-labeled toilets don’t need to cost a pretty penny. It uses 1.6 or 0.8 gpf, offers an elongated or a round-front bowl, comes in white, almond or biscuit and lists from $231.90 and up without the seat. sterlingplumbing.com

Mansfield’s one-piece Prestigio 4 toilet uses a powerful pressure-assist flushing system to deliver a meager 1.1 gpf and achieve a lower profile than a gravity-fed flushing system would allow. It includes a SmartClose toilet seat that uses hydraulic hinges to close the seat and lid gently and quietly. Available in white, it costs $850. mansfieldplumbing.com

Toto’s new gravity-fed Gwyneth one-piece toilet introduces the 1.28-gpf Double Cyclone Flush Engine. It fires two high-speed water jets just beneath the rim to scour the rim and the bowl and reduce the need for manual cleaning. When cleaning is required, the concave rim channel is easier to clean than conventional rims. The Universal Height toilet is ADA-compliant, comes in six colors and costs $690 and up, minus the seat. The Oval SoftClose seat pictured eliminates “toilet-seat slam” and costs $83 and up, depending on the color. totousa.com

For a traditional flair, Toto offers the two-piece gravity-fed Eco Clayton, which delivers 1.28 gpf. The Clayton Suite also includes a bidet, lavatories, bathtubs, faucets, shower-and-bath trim and more. The toilet comes in white and costs $533 minus the seat. totousa.com

The two-piece, gravity-fed Toto Eco Nexus toilet, pictured with an optional maple SoftClose toilet seat, uses 1.28 gpf. Matching lavatories, bathtubs, faucets and other amenities are also available. The toilet comes in white only and lists for $657. The seat costs $238. totousa.com  

10 Smart Shopping Tips

1. Look for the WaterSense label on the toilet or the box. It indicates that the toilet saves water without sacrificing flushing power.

2. Visit epa.gov/WaterSense for a list of WaterSense labeled toilets.
The list is updated biweekly.

 
3. Most of the best toilets are either gravity-fed or pressure-assist models. Gravity-fed toilets evacuate waste by using either siphonic flushing action to pull the waste from the bowl or wash-down action to push the waste. All of the gravity-fed toilets shown in this collection are siphonic except Caroma’s. Pressure-assist toilets (like the one illustrated at right by Kohler) don’t depend on gravity for flushing. Inside the vitreous-china tank they contain a separate water tank that uses air compressed by the supply-line pressure to propel water into the bowl and push the waste down the drain. Pressure-assist toilets can be louder than gravity-fed ones, but they deliver a potent flush with minimal water and the outer tank won’t sweat and drip in high humidity as other tanks tend to do (unless they’re lined to prevent it).

4. Many toilets offer elongated or round-front bowls. The former typically fit into smaller spaces, but the latter can be more comfortable.

5. On toilets that meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the top of the toilet seat is 17 to 19 inches above the floor, or about 1 1/2 to 3 inches higher than normal. These higher toilets, which are (like the Kohler toilet pictured at left) about as high as the average chair, are becoming universally popular because they can make it easier to sit down and stand up. Caroma now calls their taller toilets Easy Height, Jacuzzi calls them Perfect Height, Kohler calls them Comfort Height and Toto calls them Universal Height.

6. Many WaterSense labeled toilets are part of a collection that offers matching fixtures and accessories.

7. White costs less than other colors.

8. Some dual-flush toilets have a familiar lever on the tank that is moved either up or down, but most (including this Caroma Caravelle at right) have more intuitive push-buttons up top instead.

9. Some WaterSense labeled toilets such as the Crane EcoMiser BigFoot (craneplumbing.com) can be a good choice for remodeling because they have a large footprint for hiding the outline of old toilets.

10. Great rebates for high-efficiency toilets are available in many states and Canadian provinces. Locate a rebate program in your area at www.us.kohler.com/savewater/rebates.