Trying to reduce your household water consumption? Look no further than your toilet, the No. 1 water guzzler. One of the all-time thirstiest fixtures, toilets are estimated to be responsible for upwards of 30 percent of household water consumption.

What are water -saving toilets?

In the 1830s the average person in the UK would have got by on just 18 litres of water per day, however nowadays we are using over 135 litres a day (7.5 times the volume). Toilet flushing accounts for 1/3 of water used in the home today; one toilet flush using an older style toilet uses 14 litres of water. So what can we do to lower our water bills and use less water?

Well, new dual flush models use as little as 2.6 and 4 litres per flush, so only 20% compared with older toilets, while composting toilets use no water at all.

Dual flush toilets

A dual flush toilet is a high efficiency toilet (HET) that conserves water by offering a choice of two different toilet flush volumes – a low volume flush for liquids and a full volume flush for solids. These water saving toilets have a much larger trap way (the hole at the bottom of the bowl) than traditional toilets and use a wash down flushing design (as opposed to a siphon system), so they can use much less water to get the job done. Since they have the larger trap way, there is much less clogging associated with this type of toilet.