Home buyers in the city will be required to retrofit houses with low-flow toilets, after the City Council Tuesday night unanimously approved an ordinance that will bring the city’s building codes up to state standards.
Toilets account for 30 percent of the internal water used in a home, according to building official Carol Jacobson.
“We think this measure will save 2.5 million gallons of water per year,” said Councilmember Portia Cohen.
After the ordinance goes into effect at the first of the year, home buyers will have 180 days from the close of escrow to install toilets that use no more than 1.28 gallons of water per flush. A $200 deposit per toilet must be paid to the city, which will be returned when certification of the completed work is provided.
Exemptions from the requirement may be applied to homes in foreclosure, already equipped with low-flow toilets, transferred within a family and that will be demolished. Toilets with 1.6 gallon per flush will not have to be changed out until 2014.
“We’re trying to get ahead of the game,” Councilmember Nick Tell said. “Everybody with low-flow toilets will save money.”
The requirement was first proposed in May by the city’s Environmental Task Force, along with other sustainable practices that were adopted by the city.
The council put the toilet retrofit program on hold after the South Bay Association of Realtors (SBAR) objected to the measure, which at that time required toilets be retrofitted before the close of escrow, placing the burden on property sellers. Director of Government Affairs for SBAR David Kissinger said that the requirement at the point of sale could make property sales problematic.
“This is a huge concern for us in jurisdictions all across the state,” Kissinger said. “It’s fair to say there were some significant differences and concerns about the point of sale. The idea was that if you’re sitting in a 30-day escrow on top of everything else, it’s a difficult time to be swapping out toilets.”
Within the last week, staff met with SBAR to strike a compromise that extends the requirement beyond escrow.
“I think this is a good place to be and we will see how it is going forward,” Kissinger said.
A resident suggested the use of toilet displacement devices, available at hardware stores, that can be inserted into toilet tanks and reduce the amount of water flushed.
“In the end, our job here is a long-term vision for the city and this is really critical,” Cohen said. “Thirty percent of water in the home is too large for us not to capture. It’s really just in line with what the rest of the state is doing.” ER
