Friday, December 29, 2017

The Royal Flush


If you have a dog, the toilet is their favorite drinking fountain.

If you like to post nasty Tweets, the toilet is the ideal setting for this nefarious activity.

And of course, there’s the toilet’s main purpose: perusing the Victoria’s Secret Catalogue in private.

Short history of the toilet, per Google:

Hole in the ground, outhouse, the indoor flushing extravaganza! Yay!

At Pacific Tower our toilets originally used massive amounts of GPF or Gallons Per Flush.

Then politicians became enlightened and agreed it was important to reduce sewer flows and decrease the amount of potable water the City had to import, and the Water Conservation Movement was born.

In 1994 all toilets in California were required to switch to low-flow using only 1.6 GPF.

In 2017 all toilets in California were required to be only 1.28 GPF.

IN PACIFIC TOWER: If you bought or sold your unit between 1994 and 12.31.16, that transfer required your toilets be updated to 1.6 GPF either by the seller or the buyer.

If you bought or sold your unit in 2017, that transfer required replacement of your toilets to 1.28 GPF either by the seller or the buyer.

You have 90 days to comply with these state regulations, as stated in Pacific Tower CC&Rs.

How do you know if your toilet is compliant? Open the top of the tank. Most low-flow toilets in Pacific Tower use the Sloan Flushmate air-assisted device that makes a lot of noise and forces the water down (and with so little water in the tank, you need the device to make the brown go down. Otherwise you have to flush twice – which defeats the entire purpose). The sticker on the device states the GPF. (See photo)



Flushmaster Conversion info

Out-dated toilets use the familiar gravity system where there’s a rubber ball floating in a sea of water and chain that opens a hole that lets the water out of the bottom. These are antiques that use way too much water and are ineffective in a high-rise building.

In conclusion: If you care about the environment and you want to be compliant with the Pacific Tower CC&Rs, you need to check your toilet. If your toilet needs to be swapped out, the Building Manager can provide a list of several plumbers who can do the job.

Soon you will receive a special mailing regarding the Pacific Tower Water Conservation Policy and new Rules and Regulations concerning that policy.