Water conservation has become very important in the world at large. As a result, plumbing fixtures have become an area replete with new technologies to address that issue. Also important in these new fixtures are comfort and stylish design to meet the demands of discriminating homeowners wanting to have luxury, not just utility, in their newly remodeled bathrooms.

TOILETS:

The Federal Standard is 1.6 gpf (gallons per flush). Dual-flush toilets, those that have a full-flush mode for solids and a reduced-flush mode for liquids, must use 1.6 gpf and.8 gpf respectively, are one of the latest designs in toilet technology. A good example is a new product manufactured by Toto, a Japanese company that is the leader in the design of toilets. The Aquia® Wall-Hung Dual-Flush Toilet is their latest model seen below.

The EPA's Water Sense label requires toilets to be independently tested to show that they use, at most, 1.28 gpf. Toto has several toilets which meet that criterion including the Eco Promenade® toilet. Some low flow toilets such as Kohler Wellsworth Pressure Lite K-3531 use as little as 1.1 gpf. High style design has been one of the Kohler Company's fortes. A few years ago they came out with the high styled Purist Hatbox toilet. It also comes with a hefty price over 4,000.00. It features a clean minimalist design, an innovative tankless Power Lite® technology, a Comfort Height bowl and Quiet-Close toilet seat, an electronic soft-touch actuation, and requires an electrical receptacle. Just this year Kohler introduced the Saile Dual Flush toilet another one with high style.

Soft close seats were developed by Toto and have been in use for several years by it and other manufacturers. This means that they close slowly on their own once you push down on them. This year Kohler introduced the new Saile quiet close, with a quick release seat to accompany its new Saile toilet.

The development of a washlet as an attachment to the toilet seat was also pioneered by Toto and has been in use for several years now. The seat uses water to cleanse after use instead of toilet paper. Its newest iteration is the Washlet S400. The newest features are automated hands free flushing with a sensor activated lid, a heated seat and other features you will just have to read about. Amazing!
Kohler has also added a washing option known as C3-125 to its offering.

Finally, the seat height has become an issue. A universal height, a height similar to that of a chair seat height, has become standard, anywhere from 16"-18". Most manufacturers have this offering, including Toto, Kohler, American Standard and Sterling.

SHOWERS:

The standard flow rate of water from any of the shower heads whether they are the main shower head, a gravity fed rain shower, a hand held shower or body sprays is 2.5 gallons per minute. Some of the new options are attempting to use less water. For example the Hansgrohe Pure Vida body spray uses only.9 gpm. But new designs in the body spray seem to be more important. Two are from Kallista, a designer line subsidiary of Kohler. Kallista's, Rainbar by Barbara Barry, is 24 ½"tall with 16 jets in one vertical line. Kallista's Semi-magnum spray dome, 5" diameter spray surface, wall mounted, pivots 40 degrees.