California Drought 2015: New Historic Toilet Policy Implemented

California has taken steps towards water conservation due to prolonged drought. The Golden State's Energy Commission issued a set of policies, effective January 1, 2016, to limit the amount of water used in toilets, urinals, and faucets, reports the Los Angeles Times.  

Commissioner Andrew McAllister tells Reuters, "In the face of California's current drought, we must use water as efficiently as possible. Updating minimum standards of toilets, urinals, and faucets is a step in that direction." 

According to the California Energy Commission, these new regulations are expected to save 10 billion gallons of water in the first year alone. The LA Times reports that the new regulations will see a 2.2 percent reduction rate in the water used by California residents, which usually averages to approximately 443 billion gallons a year.  

Officials say that as time progresses, more water is expected to be saved partly due to new appliances which will be geared towards conserving water, reports the LA Times.  

According to Time, Amber Beck, spokesperson for the Energy Commission says, "We need to make sure we are not only saving water right now but in the coming years." 

Meanwhile, the LA Times reports Beck saying, "By 2039, the savings will be over 105.6 billion gallons, or one out of four gallons." 

These new regulations mostly concern faucet flow and urinals since the water standards for toilets were already changed in January 2014. Therefore, toilets will still be required to use only up to 1.28 gallons per flush.  

Under the new regulations, bathroom faucets should only use 1.2 gallons of water per minute, while kitchen faucets are allowed 1.8 gallons of water per minute. Meanwhile, the usage of water in urinals dropped from half-gallon per flush to only 0.125 a gallon. 

According Beck, the Energy Commission is also developing a rebate program to so California residents replace old water appliances with those that help conserve water, reports the LA Times.  

Water policy analyst from the Natural Resources Defense Council, Tracy Quin, described these new policies as "unprecedented" and strict. 

Quinn says, "This will contribute to tremendous water and energy saving for the state of California and for the individual Consumers. It's really going to drive California to be a more drought-resilient state." 

Currently, Quinn says that about 33 percent of kitchen faucets, 13 percent of lavatory faucets, and 17 percent of urinals adhere to the policies.  

She goes on to say, "California has historically been a trendsetter when it come to adopting standards for energy-efficient products. We're hoping that other states will follow suit with this as well."