Lawmakers Want To Can Regulation On Flushing Pull For Old 3.5 Gallons After 1.6-Gallon Move

In 1992 Congress passed a law requiring every new residential toilet made in America to use only 1.6 gallons of water per flush - a significant drop from the old 3.5-gallon standard.

Now, a backwash is flooding Washington.

Thirty-four members of Congress have signed legislation that would repeal the new standard and leave Americans in control of the size of their flush. “There’s good regulation and there’s bad regulation,” said Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Mich. “To me this is an example of government run amok.”

Knollenberg claims the regulations were set down with little public input or research. He says his constituents want the government out of their bathrooms.

He and the other flush rebels in Congress have offered some striking anecdotal reasons for scrapping the new toilets.

Adults said their aged parents had to flush multiple times. A fourth grader wrote in on lined and dotted composition paper: “I’m one out of five children, and the toilets get stopped up every week!”

But most plumbing manufacturers and environmentalists support the new rules. Toilet makers don’t want to deal with a maze of different state regulations that might require the manufacturing different toilet sizes.

Environmentalists point to huge water savings from the new models, with New York City cutting total water use by 7 percent since it began reducing the volume of flushes.

“There’s a certain kind of eighth grade quality to the discussion, about the federal government coming into the bathroom,” said Edward Osann of the American Council for Energy Efficient Economy. “That’s kind of funny, but there’s a serious side to this issue.

“There are now about 25 million 1.6-gallon toilets shipped and installed across the country, and it’s hard to believe none of them works.”

Successful or not, the new toilets have created what Knollenberg calls a “black-market” for the 3.5-gallon models, which some toilet rebels have installed in their homes.

While some write of their fear of the “toilet police,” the only federal penalty is a $100-per-toilet charge for manufacturing 3.5-gallon toilets.

Paul Lynch, the chief residential building inspector in Fairfax County, Va., said anyone who willfully violates state building codes could face a criminal fine of up to $2,500, but he’s never dragged anyone into court over a rogue toilet..

“If someone has a 3.5-gallon model sitting in his garage and it works and is safe, I’m not so sure it’s a code violation to install it,” Lynch said. “We wouldn’t even consider taking something like that into a criminal court of law.”