Express Sewer & Drain Blog

Lowering your monthly water consumption - and in turn, your monthly bill - takes ongoing effort. While there are many steps you can take in and around your home to limit water use, one of the most effective ways of doing so is by installing high-efficiency or low-flow toilets in your home. 

High-efficiency toilet models consume as much as 300-700% less water than standard toilets per flush (1.1 gallons per flush (GPF), versus as much as 7 GPF of standard toilets), which brings significant environmental and financial benefits in the long term. Outdated, high consumption toilet models can consume as much as 12,000 gallons of water in a single year, which may put added strain on your monthly budget.

When it comes to high-efficiency toilets themselves, pricing is a frequent concern. While monthly water bills and consumption may be high, investing in modern toilet models is often larger of an investment than many homeowners are willing to make. For those that do make the transition, however, the benefits far outweigh any initial investment costs. The thousands of gallons of water you would save each year bring long-term value that is hard to pass up.

However, what are the best models on the market, in terms of price, function and savings? In this blog, we catalogue industry-leading, high-efficiency toilet models you might want to consider for your home or property.

Pressure-Assisted Toilet Models

Pressure-assisted toilet models work by displacing air and forcing water into the bowl at speeds that clear solid and liquid waste alike with under a single gallon of water; this spells significant water savings and much reduced monthly bills. While these models do cost a deal more than the other models listen in this article, they also use the least amount of water per flush.

If your home water pressure exceeds 25 pounds per square inch, and you have the funds available to invest in pressure-assisted toilet models, they always return on their investment in monthly savings.

Notable examples: Toto Drake II 1G Close Coupled Toilet, American Standard 2462.016.020 Cadet, Kohler Wellworth series

Dual-Flush Toilets

Dual-flush toilet models feature two separate flush valves, each with their own flush speeds (partial flush for liquids, full-flush for solids); they are also the most common high-efficiency toilet models on the market. Dual-flush toilets typically use as much as 68% less water than leading low-flow toilet models, which generates notable savings over time and minimizes economic impact. These models also do not clog nearly as much as standard toilet models, an added plus many homeowners don’t consider at first.

Five or six flushes a day, at 3-7 GPF, adds up quickly in terms of wasted water. Dual-flush toilets keep wasteful water use to a minimum more so than other low-flow or standard toilet counterparts.

Notable examples: Kohler K-3654-0 Persuade, American Standard H2Option, Glacier Bay 1- or 2-piece High-efficiency Dual-flush Toilets

Low-Flow Toilets

If you’ve replaced your home’s toilet any time since 1992, the model you have is almost certainly a low-flow toilet (made the legislative norm in that same year). These toilets consume 1.6 GPF maximum, and typically work via two-piece, gravity-fed tank configurations. 

However, if your toilets have not been replaced since then or your current tank has a constant leak, you may be contributing to the 2 billion gallons of annual wasted toilet water nationwide.

Notable examples: ProFlo PF1604PA Round-Front Toilet, Toto Drake 1.6 GPF Elongated 2-piece Toilet, Kohler Cimarron Comfort Height 1.28 GPF Toiler

Updating your home’s wasteful toilets to today’s high-efficiency alternatives is one of the most immediately noticeable ways you can lower water consumption and your monthly water bill. While taking shorter showers and turning off the faucet when you brush your teeth can help you limit your consumption, these pale in comparison to what updating your home’s toilet can achieve, in terms of savings.