Old fashion toilets can use as much as 6 gallons per flush. We recently upgraded a toilet from a standard 2.5 Gallon per flush model to a new Toto Dual Flush model that has one button for a full flush at 1.6 Gallons (For #2) or half flush at 0.9 Gallons.  This toilet meets EPA WaterSense high efficiency toilet requirements.   It has a very good flushing mechanism that works a lot better than our decade’s old toilet.

Rebate

If you live in select San Francisco Bay Area cities, you may be eligible for an up $150 per toilet rebate. Expires June 30, 2011. Check with your local water district to see if they have rebates.

Some sobering stats from the EPA:

Toilets are by far the main source of water use in the home, for nearly 30 percent of residential indoor water consumption.

Over the course of your lifetime, you will likely flush the toilet nearly 140,000 times. If you replace older, existing toilets with WaterSense labeled models, you can save 4,000 gallons per year with this simpler, greener choice.

A family of four that replaces its home’s older toilets with WaterSense labeled models will, on average, save more than $90 per year in reduced water utility bills, and $2,000 over the lifetime of the toilets.

Some stats I saw elsewhere are even more optimistic. It really depends on how old an wasteful your toilet is.

Comparing a new 1.6 Gpf (gallons per flush) vs Old 2.5 Gpf toilet – 1.2 Gallons saved per flush.  Average 20 flushes a day = saving 24 gallons a day x 365 = 8760 gallons a year.  This amounts to a lot of money saved a year.  You can buy a new dual flush toilet for a little over $200.

There are combination dual flush toilets with a built-in sink for even more versatility.

If you cannot afford a new toilet, put a water filled bottle in your toilet tank. It will lessen your water usage.