Plumbing Info

by Mike McClintock – October 14, 1999

Homeowners have talked about the problem of low-flush toilets since 1992, when the U.S. Department of Energy mandated them as a water conservation measure. The units are about the same size as older designs but use about half the water–1.6 gallons instead of 3.5 gallons per flush–and consequently …

Continue reading An Update on Low-Flush Toilets

courtesy of Contractor Magazine, October 1999
by Rob Heselbarth

Oakland, Calif. — The former manager of the water conservation program at the East Bay Municipal Utility District pleaded guilty in late August to embezzling more than $1 million in federal funds to support the low-flow toilet rebate program.

John Passama, who will be sentenced in …

Continue reading Toilet rebate funds embezzled

courtesy of Supply House Times magazine, August 1999
by Pat Lenius

Residential customers in Hollywood and southwest Los Angeles were offered the opportunity to have free ultra-low-flush toilets delivered at no cost to their homes in August.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is spearheading this water conservation effort with help from community …

Continue reading Los Angeles offers free delivery of low-flow toilets to homes

The country has an enduring fascination with the toilet–replete with cutting-edge technology, Web sites, symposiums and museums. The enthusiasm is largely lost on foreigners.

By Mark Magnier, L.A. Times – 1999

KOKURA, Japan–It’s got wings, it’s sensitive, it’s smart. It cares, it knows when you’re around, it bleats when you arrive. Ignore it and you …

Continue reading Japan Is Flush With Obsession

courtesy of LOS ANGELES TMES AND ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK – New York is different. But starting this weekend it is just a little less so.

As of yesterday, residents of the nation’s largest city are allowed to own garbage disposals.

Disposals had been illegal in 70 percent of the city, including all of Manhattan, …

Continue reading N.Y. Garbage Disposal Ban Lifted

Park Service outhouse

courtesy of The Seattle Times, 10/8/97
by FRANK GREVE / Knight-Ridder Newspapers

DELAWARE WATER GAP, Pa. – There’s a remarkable new building in a federal park in Pennsylvania: a two-hole outhouse, without running water, that cost the National Park Service at least $333,000.

It’s nestled amid evergreens, with a gabled slate roof, cottage-style porches, and …

Continue reading The Opulent Outhouse

Reproduced with permission from Fine Homebuilding magazine – Oct./Nov. 1997
Steve Culpepper

A head-to-head comparison for our readers with nothing to go on.

At first the toilets in our house were merely sluggish. Then they got slower and slower until they didn’t flush at all. But the toilets weren’t clogged. Something was in the sewer …

Continue reading Choosing a Toilet

Example of theplumber in 1997

courtesy of P&M Magazine, October 1997
by Joseph Ursitti (Senior Editor)

Today’s culture dictates a right now mentality. Customers continually seek customer-service-oriented businesses to fit their needs. The kind of service that was delivered years ago from local mom and pop shops.

The Internet is giving local contractors the chance to service to a more …

Continue reading Caught in the Web?