The Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District recently announced that participating water providers have replaced 100,000 old, inefficient toilets in metro Atlanta with more efficient models through a retrofit program.
Pegasus Residential installed Gwinnett’s 20,000th toilet at Spring Lake Apartments in Norcross in June. “Since the program’s inception, Pegasus Residential has replaced nearly 2,000 toilets in two apartment communities in Gwinnett County,” said Lindy Ware, Pegasus Residential CEO. “Not only has Pegasus Residential been able to take advantage of the County’s rebate program, we have seen a cost savings in our water bill by 23 to 33 percent per month in each community.”
Residents of single-family households built before 1993 who replace existing toilets with water-efficient units can receive a $100 rebate per toilet. The program expanded to multi-family residences in 2012. Participating apartment communities have decreased their water consumption by an average of 37 percent.
“While water is a renewable resource, it is limited, and as a community we need to do all we can to reduce consumption and minimize our impact on the resource as a whole,” said Water Resources Director Ron Seibenhener. “Reaching this milestone is another example of how this community has been able to change the way we manage water and achieve significant conservation gains.”
In addition, Gwinnett County has kept more than 384 tons of old and broken toilets from ending up in a landfill. The porcelain from recycled toilets is turned into a stone aggregate that can be used for construction projects.
Single- and multi-family households can still participate in the toilet rebate program. Details about the program and applications can be found on the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District’s website, www.northgeorgiawater.org.
