Take the Plunge to High-Efficiency Toilets

Toilets are the largest household water user with 24% of all indoor water use, using between 4.8 litres to 20 litres of our region's drinking water every time they're flushed.

What is a high-efficiency toilet?

High-efficiency toilets use 4.8 litres (L) per flush or less.

High-Efficiency Toilet Benefits

  • Save water and money. Replacing inefficient toilets is the best way to save the most water in your bathroom. A family of four can save over 111,000 L of water a year by making the switch to a high-efficiency toilet – that’s a savings of about $200 per year! With those savings, the payback period for a high-efficiency toilet is a year and a half!
  • Reliable. Easy to install and maintain.
  • It's the law for new residential buildings and renovation projects involving toilet replacements in British Columbia.

Toilet Flow Rate

Low-flow and high-efficiency toilets look like other models, but often have a smaller tank. Toilets must be marked to indicate they have been tested for low flow water consumption. Look for toilets marked with one of the following: "LC," "4.8," "LC/4.8," "LPF" or "xLPF" where x indicates tested value in litres per flush and is equal to or less than or 4.8 litres.

Choosing a Toilet

With all of the different makes and models out on the market, it can be hard to know which toilet to choose. High-efficiency toilets (HETs) have a maximum flush volume of 4.8 litres. Dual-flush toilets are classified as HETs because the ratio of reduced flushes (up to 4.1 litres) to full flushes (up to 6 litres) results in an effective flush volume that is less than 4.8 litres.

The Maximum Performace (MaP) Testing Program was developed in partnership with the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and Canadian Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA). The MaP initiative tests toilets under realistic conditions and grades them based on overall performance. The study demonstrates the maximum solids that each model was able to successfully clear in a single flush at least two of three attempts. MaP Premium toilet models have an effective flush of 4.0 litres or less, US EPA WaterSense-qualified and a Map of 600 grams or better.