Advice on low-flow appliances

In My Humble Opinion
1

After 28 years, our septic system is failing, which basically means the drain field is no longer absorbing water very well. Our intervals between needing the system pumped out have gone from the usual 3+ years, to 2 years, to 6 months, to…83 days.

In math-speak, a monotonically decreasing sequence with a lower bound of zero. But not good, any way you slice it. FWIW, this is a problem that much of our neighborhood is experiencing, and we’re in the early stages of a process that should result in our having sewer service in 3-4 years.

Given the above sequence, though, we’re probably going to have to switch from a 1500-gallon septic tank, to a ~7000-gallon holding tank, well before sewer comes to our neighborhood. But whether we do or don’t, saving water has now become a high enough priority for us that we need to have everything from toilets and shower heads, to dishwashers and clothes washers, be as frugal with water as is reasonably possible.

And I was thinking: I bet my fellow Dopers have had some experience with low-flow appliances; bet they could give me some pointers! So feel free to share your experiences with the good, the bad, and the in-between.

We’re talking about sinks, showers, toilets, clothes washers, and dishwashers. For us, the latter two are 8-10 years old, and one of our two toilets was the original equipment in this 28 year old house, so we should replace all of those anyway. So we’re pretty much in the market for replacing any and all of the above.

2

Is there any chance you can relocate the drain field? Or is the problem one of a rising water table?

3

Low flow toilets have been around long enough by now that the problems have essentially been eliminated. Most of the horror stories of unflushable turds and what-not were back in the 1990s when they were first mandated by some areas, and toilet manufacturers did the usual slapdash job of reducing flow on existing toilets, which didn’t work well. But they’ve become much better now. Same with low flow showerheads- initially, they weren’t good, but with some reengineering, they’re just fine.

Most of our large appliances are relatively new- past decade anyway, and they’re all eco-friendly to some degree. The washing machine has a “precise fill” option that fills up just to the level of the clothes in the drum and no more- it sure looks like it uses less water than the old ones that everyone just set on “large load” and forgot about it. Our KitchenAid dishwasher is about a year old, and it’s Energy Star Certified (covers water too). It uses some kind of sensor to adjust the cycle length and time based on the crud on the dishes. Regardless, the dishwasher is a beast compared to all the ones I’ve used before- it gets nearly everything spotlessly clean.

4

Is it worth it to look into greywater system. Taking water that’s, more or less, clean-ish, and instead of sending it down the drain and into your septic system, having it go directly into the yard.
I’m sure you’d have to switch to specific (biodegradable?) soaps and I’d imagine there’s restrictions if you’re near a body of water or people in the area of wells. But, if you could divert even just your shower and maybe a sink or dishwasher, you could probably buy yourself some time.

5

Front loading washers use only 1/3-1/2 of the water of top loaders. Or you could just go to a laundromat and eliminate that from the equation entirely. Yeah, I know, not fun, but it is a viable short-term option, right?

6

Toilets are the big water savers if you still have old high-flow ones. A front loading washing machine can save a good bit of water over a top loader depending on your laundering habits. Front loaders are great if you can do a few large loads, but they aren’t so great if you feel the need to do lots of small loads.

7

I had a issue with a cesspool, which is basically a all in one septic system. It would back up till I diverted the washing machine water into the garden instead. I also monitored the level and whenever it was getting high, not high enough to back up, but perhaps a coupe of feet till that point I would dump a jug of Pequa Cessflo into it and overnight the level would be way down, sometimes lower then the measuring stick I used. That got me by fine for 4 years or so when I moved.

If you can check the level, I would recommend giving the Pequa a try. They also have systems that bubble air through the holding tank, basically turning the septic part into a aerobic digester which works a lot faster, you could check into those as well.

8

I’ll try to answer questions all at once here:

Toilets: we’ve got one Gerber low-flow as well as the old-fashioned toilet that came with the house in 1992. We’ve been very happy with the Gerber low-flow, and it definitely uses way less water per flush than the old toilet, which is in the upstairs bathroom, and when it flushes, it sounds like a cascade is running through the pipes.

So we’re good with switching the old toilet upstairs to a low-flow; main question is, another Gerber, or are there toilets that have it beat more than marginally?

Clothes washer: I do the family’s laundry, on account of the washer and dryer being in the basement, and my wife’s knee and ankle problems (she’s having ankle surgery week after next, but that’s another story), and since I tend to do large loads, a front-loader sounds like a winner. I’ve never had a front-loading washer, but sure, why not? If it uses noticeably less water, I’m happy to switch. And when the sewer gets here, I’m told the sewer bill will be a multiple of our water bill, so I’ll still want to save water.

Dishwasher: that KitchenAid sounds pretty good, I’ll check into it!

Gray water: we’re less than a mile from the Chesapeake Bay, and downhill from us is a stream that feeds into the bay, so diverting water outdoors is environmentally iffy. Might do it with the clothes washer if I get desperate enough, but I’m not there yet. I can do that by sticking the washer’s drain pipe out the basement window and having it feed into a PVC pipe that takes the water across the back yard and into the woods. But I’d have to do some nontrivial plumbing modifications to divert anything else. And since we’ll have a sewer connection in a few years, nontrivial plumbing modifications are right out.

Cesspools: I’ll have to see what’s legal here. I don’t have details handy, but I gather from the septic/sewer-related discussions at our HOA meetings that some environmentally friendly systems that are OK in other places have been rejected by the local regulators in our county.

I really appreciate everyone’s contributions so far! If anybody’s got any particular brands and model numbers of anything they’d like to recommend, I’m all ears. :slight_smile:

9

I just got one of thesedual flush toilets from Home Depot. I don’t know what my previous toilet was. I thought it was around 1.6 gals all the time but maybe it was more. This thing seems to be like 60/100 on getting solids flushed with the 1.6 gal option, and 95/100 when I use the 1.1gal option for liquids (and paper). It’s perfectly fine for me here alone but it might cause problems with a family.

It gets good reviews and is quite a bargain as far as toilets go. I don’t know what a more expensive yet same yeild/gallon/option toilet could do for ya.

10

Agree with what all are saying. I would like to add that you can get a shower handle with an on/off switch as well: you don’t need the water running while you are lathering or shampooing, only when getting wet initially and when rinsing. Also, you can shut off the water easily while shaving, if you do that in the shower. The advantage is that an on/off switch keeps the water temp constant.

If you are not inclined to replace shower heads, you can get this little guy cheap and it does the same thing.

If you are really into the whole water saving thing, like we have to do occasionally out west, you can follow the “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down” mantra.

11

Buy new shower heads and don’t take out the flow restrictors.

12

The best flushing low volume toilet I’ve seen, and used, is the Champion 4. It has a 4" flush valve, so when the water enters the bowl it does so with authority. I was on some opiates prior to my hip replacement which resulted in somewhat hard to flush product. I’ve had no problems since installing this toilet.

13

I want to add a suggestion of a hot water circulation pump. It is mounted on your water heater, and via timer, moves hot water to your showers and baths during hours when it is likely needed. This reduces water waste while you may wait for the shower to heat up. This is not a low flow appliance, but can reduce waste water volume.

14

Hmmm. After consulting with my wife, she says she routinely needs multiple flushes with the Gerber, so I doubt she’d be keen on my switching the old toilet, which works just fine for her while using a ton of water. But maybe I should put a Champion 4 in, in place of the Gerber.

Speaking of which, anyone got any good recommendations for a YouTube instructional video on replacing a toilet? It looks like it wouldn’t be tremendously complicated.

I think I know what you mean - you basically connect the hot and cold water pipes under the sink in the bathroom furthest from your hot water heater, and put a pump in the connection so that it basically rotates the water in your system around to where the hot water’s where you need it.

I saw a pic of the idea ~25 years ago in a DIY column in the then-local paper. Made sense, but decided it wasn’t worth it then. But that was way before saving water was important to me, so it might well be worth doing now. Good suggestion!

15

No vid. but it is very easy to replace a toilet, as long as the flange (lower part that attaches) is intact and the floor is solid.

16

No need to McGyver it any more, just install on your water heater and make a few other connections.

17

Replacing a toilet is very easy - heck, I did it myself in my first house 40 years ago. The main thing is to be sure you have everything before you start. Also make sure to verify how far the drain sits from the wall - you can get toilets for 10", 12" (pretty much the standard) and 14" offsets.

We just replaced our low-profile toilet with a taller one (yeah, we’re old…) and the new one came with everything but a new supply line. FWIW, we got an American Standard and we’re very impressed with the efficiency of its flush. Sometimes it would take 3 flushes to clear the old bowl, but we have yet to even double-flush with this one.

18

I have an on demand system installed in the master bath. Pump and sensor with a push button. I walk in in the morning and push the button. by the time I’ve met my immediate needs there’s hot water at the sink.

19

Omg…I’m not looking to reduce water usage like the OP but this would be a godsend for my house! My bathroom and kitchen sink take a REALLY long time to get hot water and I’ve never wanted to invest in a tankless heater to fix it. My shower gets hot water immediately, which is weird because the bathroom sink is right next to it and literally right above the water heater.

Thanks for the tip!!

20

One thought: before buying anything, check with your power utility (and also gas, if you have one) to see if they have any programs for rebates for new energy-efficient appliances. We replaced an old washer fairly recently and the rebate was pretty substantial.