BILL REQ. #:  S-3514.1 

Read first time 01/20/14.   Referred to Committee on Energy, Environment & Telecommunications.

     AN ACT Relating to water conservation appliances; adding a new section to chapter 19.27 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that:
     (1) Water is vital to the survival of life on the planet and is limited in supply. One way to help extend Washington's water supply is by promoting water efficiency and enhancing the market for water efficient products, programs, and practices;
     (2) Bathrooms are, by far, the largest user of water inside the home, responsible for about one-half of total indoor water use;
     (3) Toilets account for approximately thirty percent of residential indoor water consumption. Toilets are a major source of wasted water due to leaks or inefficiencies. Under federal and state law, toilets sold in the United States must not exceed 1.6 gallons per flush. High efficiency toilets go beyond the standard and use less than 1.3 gallons per flush. Power assist and pressure assist toilets use even less water, some even less than one gallon of water per flush. Tests and research demonstrate that high efficiency toilets work as well or better than high volume toilets. If every home in the United States replaced old toilets with new high efficiency toilets, the savings would be more than twenty billion gallons of water a year in Washington state; and
     (4) Besides saving water and reducing a customer's costs, water efficiency offers many other benefits:
     (a) Less water withdrawn from rivers, lakes, and aquifers, which keeps these water bodies healthy;
     (b) Improved water quality due to increased river flows;
     (c) Less energy required to pump and treat the water and wastewater, therefore less greenhouse gas emissions;
     (d) Less wastewater that requires collection, treatment, and disposal; and
     (e) Less pollution from treated wastewater in our streams and waterways.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 19.27 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) By January 1, 2016, all toilets, other than institutional and commercial toilets, toilets used by children in day care facilities, and toilets used in bariatric applications, sold, offered for sale, or distributed in this state must be high efficiency toilets.
     (2) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (a) "Commercial toilet" means a model that uses a nontank pressurized flushing device, which means a device where a valve is attached to a pressurized water supply pipe and designed that when actuated, it opens the line for direct flow into the fixture at a rate and quantity to properly operate the fixture and gradually closes in order to avoid water hammer. The pipe to which this device is connected is of sufficient size that, when open, the device delivers water at a sufficient rate of flow for flushing purposes.
     (b) "High efficiency toilet" means a toilet that meets the performance, testing, and labeling requirements prescribed by American society of mechanical engineers A112.19.2/Canadian standards association B45.1-2008 standard ceramic plumbing fixtures and, if applicable, American society of mechanical engineers A112.19.14-2006 standard six liter water closets equipped with a dual flushing device and is either of the following:
     (i) A dual flush toilet with an effective flush volume that does not exceed 1.28 gallons as determined by American society of mechanical engineers A112.19.14-2006 standard six liter water closets equipped with a dual flushing device, where effective flush volume is defined as the composite, average flush volume of two reduced flushes and one full flush; or
     (ii) A single flush toilet where the effective flush volume may not exceed 1.28 gallons as determined by the test procedures contained in American society of mechanical engineers A112.19.2/Canadian standards association B45.1-2008 standard ceramic plumbing fixtures.
     (c) "Institutional toilet" means any toilet fixture with a design not typically found in residential or commercial applications or that is designed for a specialized application, including, but not limited to, wall-mounted wall outlet toilets, toilets used in jails or prisons, toilets used in bariatrics applications, and child toilets used in day care facilities.