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Clients Lining Up For Rebates On Low-Flow Toilets

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By JULIA FERRANTE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 30, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco County Utilities customers will have to wait until at least April to exchange their "high volume" toilets for more efficient models, and not everyone who wants a rebate will get one.

County officials are advertising to hire an administrator who will review grant applications and manage the program. The public utility will offer just 500 rebates to qualified west Pasco customers before Oct. 1.

Utilities officials plan to expand the program for their customers elsewhere in Pasco at the start of the next fiscal year, environmental biologist Annemarie Hammond said.

The utilities department was inundated with calls from interested residents after an article about the program appeared in Monday's Pasco Tribune, she said. The staff had to tell people they'll have to wait, and not all of them will qualify for credits on their water bills.

Residents served by a city or private utility - such as Aloha or Lindrick, both in west Pasco - are not eligible for toilet rebates through Pasco County Utilities. The rebates also aren't retroactive, so customers who have replaced their toilets with low-flow models will not qualify for grants.

A preapproved plumber must swap out the equipment, and the old and new toilets must be inspected.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District has awarded Pasco a $50,000 conservation grant that allows the county to credit qualified customers. Pasco County Utilities will contribute an equal amount.

Slated to last at least three years, the program involves replacing models made before 1995 to save water. The newer toilets must be specific models effective with one flush, Hammond said. Some low-flow models require two or three flushes, which would defeat the purpose of the exchange.

Newer toilets use about 1.6 gallons a flush. Older toilets, which typically consume three gallons a flush, must be recycled so they don't end up being restocked by plumbers or dumped in a county landfill, Hammond said.

The materials, with the exception of the plastic seats and some interior parts, may be crushed and used as road base.

Customers who meet the program requirements will receive up to a $100 credit for the first toilet and up to $80 for a second one from the utility department, Hammond said.

Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com.

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