Raleigh Plumbers
Consumers Satisfied With Low-Flow Toilets
Above typical fulfillment levels were reported by consumers using 13 various designs of low-flow toilets in a research study performed by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
The Ultra-Low-Flush Toilets: Client Fulfillment Study, released in December 1999, varied from previous researches in that its sole purpose was to ask consumers how delighted they were with the toilets.
The MWDSC checked 1,300 customers who received 13 various models of low-flow toilets from 11 producers through discount programs in 1998 and 1999. The highest fulfillment rating of all toilets was an 8.37 from 10, and the toilet with the most affordable rating got a 5.91. More than half of those surveyed reported never ever experiencing obstructing or blocking. However, 67 % of participants said they needed to double-flush when or more a month.
Based upon total customer satisfaction, the top 5 toilets were: the American Requirement Cadet 2164.1; the Toto CST703/CST704; the Mansfield Alto 130-160; the Western Pottery Aris; and the St. Thomas Marathon 6201.0.
We have been benchmarking ourselves and doing our own testing and have actually concluded that there is basically no distinction in the way present 1.6-gpf toilets flush compared with 3.5-gpf toilets, said Steve Bissell, marketing manager/sanitary items for Kohler Co. "Before the 1.6-gpf mandate, no person truly made the effort to take a look at flushing innovation. Now that we have been forced to concentrate on it and have actually truly examined it, I think we as an industry can now take flushing efficiency of 1.6-gpf toilets beyond that of 3.5-gpf toilets".
"Thinking about how 1.6-gpf toilets were mandated into existence in 1992, their flushing performance has actually come a long method", said Lance Nordell, group leader/product development and marketing at American Standard.
"As a market, we did the very best we might in the time frame we were given", Nordell said. "Then we continued to establish products from that point. For example, a lot of problems about older 1.6-gpf toilets were that the water area was too small, but now we're very close to what they utilized to be with 3.5-gpf toilets. Likewise, we altered the hydraulics of getting water into the bowl, altered trapways and did things with jets and gave 1.6-gpf toilets a general re-engineering considering that the very first generations were introduced".
"The American Standard Cadet model described in the MWDSC survey, model 2164, is the previous Cadet model", Nordell said. Since the intro of the original Cadet design in 1991, small performance-enhancing modifications have been made, followed by a significant redesign 2 years earlier".
"The Kohler Wellworth design consisted of in the survey was sold from 1989 through 1996", Bissell stated. Both the internal and external workings of that design remained the very same throughout those years. The next generation of Wellworth toilets, consisting of improvements to the internal hydrodynamics, was presented in 1996.
"Overall in the Wellworth line we made an enhancement in the trapway size, which was enhanced by 33 %, to minimize the capacity for obstructing", he stated. "We worked on the hydrodynamics of how water streams through the toilet to make it stream better. For example, the siphon jet primaries the trapway and pulls waste down into it previously in the flush, and offers a strong stream of water to obtain an excellent flush, utilizing only the power of gravity".
Customer dissatisfaction with 1.6-gpf toilets resulted in a supposed black market for 3.5-gpf toilets in Canada. In an attempt to quash HR 623, the Plumbing Standards Enhancement Act, which would repeal the 1.6-gpf requirement, the president of the American Supply Association told members of a congressional subcommittee to overlook the black market stories.
Harold Williams, ASA president, cited results from a survey of its members in states surrounding Canada, where 92 % of those checked reported that toilets from Canada were having no impact on product sales in the United States.
If this rumor held true, plumbing wholesalers along the Canadian border would have seen a drop in their sales, however that has not occurred, Williams said.
The Ultra-Low-Flush Toilets: Client Fulfillment Study, released in December 1999, varied from previous researches in that its sole purpose was to ask consumers how delighted they were with the toilets.
The MWDSC checked 1,300 customers who received 13 various models of low-flow toilets from 11 producers through discount programs in 1998 and 1999. The highest fulfillment rating of all toilets was an 8.37 from 10, and the toilet with the most affordable rating got a 5.91. More than half of those surveyed reported never ever experiencing obstructing or blocking. However, 67 % of participants said they needed to double-flush when or more a month.
Based upon total customer satisfaction, the top 5 toilets were: the American Requirement Cadet 2164.1; the Toto CST703/CST704; the Mansfield Alto 130-160; the Western Pottery Aris; and the St. Thomas Marathon 6201.0.
We have been benchmarking ourselves and doing our own testing and have actually concluded that there is basically no distinction in the way present 1.6-gpf toilets flush compared with 3.5-gpf toilets, said Steve Bissell, marketing manager/sanitary items for Kohler Co. "Before the 1.6-gpf mandate, no person truly made the effort to take a look at flushing innovation. Now that we have been forced to concentrate on it and have actually truly examined it, I think we as an industry can now take flushing efficiency of 1.6-gpf toilets beyond that of 3.5-gpf toilets".
"Thinking about how 1.6-gpf toilets were mandated into existence in 1992, their flushing performance has actually come a long method", said Lance Nordell, group leader/product development and marketing at American Standard.
"As a market, we did the very best we might in the time frame we were given", Nordell said. "Then we continued to establish products from that point. For example, a lot of problems about older 1.6-gpf toilets were that the water area was too small, but now we're very close to what they utilized to be with 3.5-gpf toilets. Likewise, we altered the hydraulics of getting water into the bowl, altered trapways and did things with jets and gave 1.6-gpf toilets a general re-engineering considering that the very first generations were introduced".
"The American Standard Cadet model described in the MWDSC survey, model 2164, is the previous Cadet model", Nordell said. Since the intro of the original Cadet design in 1991, small performance-enhancing modifications have been made, followed by a significant redesign 2 years earlier".
"The Kohler Wellworth design consisted of in the survey was sold from 1989 through 1996", Bissell stated. Both the internal and external workings of that design remained the very same throughout those years. The next generation of Wellworth toilets, consisting of improvements to the internal hydrodynamics, was presented in 1996.
"Overall in the Wellworth line we made an enhancement in the trapway size, which was enhanced by 33 %, to minimize the capacity for obstructing", he stated. "We worked on the hydrodynamics of how water streams through the toilet to make it stream better. For example, the siphon jet primaries the trapway and pulls waste down into it previously in the flush, and offers a strong stream of water to obtain an excellent flush, utilizing only the power of gravity".
Customer dissatisfaction with 1.6-gpf toilets resulted in a supposed black market for 3.5-gpf toilets in Canada. In an attempt to quash HR 623, the Plumbing Standards Enhancement Act, which would repeal the 1.6-gpf requirement, the president of the American Supply Association told members of a congressional subcommittee to overlook the black market stories.
Harold Williams, ASA president, cited results from a survey of its members in states surrounding Canada, where 92 % of those checked reported that toilets from Canada were having no impact on product sales in the United States.
If this rumor held true, plumbing wholesalers along the Canadian border would have seen a drop in their sales, however that has not occurred, Williams said.