If you regularly run water in toilet u to the United States, you're probably used to that characteristic noise as the stream of water fills the cup, then powerful suction removes the contents with a dramatic "gulp".
In Europe, on the other hand, the process looks very different. There is almost always the option of a weaker or stronger rinse, depending on what you need. And the water does not suck the content, but simply pushes it down. In stark contrast, in Germany and the Netherlands, excrement sometimes falls on a ceramic shelf directly above a pool of water, he recalls. Deutsche says.
All this toilet talk isn't just a rude dinner party topic. The way our toilets flush faeces and urine has significant consequences for our water supply. It's becoming an increasingly pressing issue in the United States as climate change worsens droughts and many communities across the country face water shortages, particularly in the West.
The unique American siphon design used to require gallons of water with each flush to create the suction effect. In 1992, the landmark Water Efficiency Act fundamentally changed America's plumbing, mandating that new toilets could only use a fraction of the previous amount of water. This saved an estimated 18,2 trillion gallons (68,9 trillion liters) of water over two decades. Now President Donald Trump is trying to repeal that regulation, which is contrary to what environmental engineers believe is necessary to secure the nation's water supply.
"It took us so long to actually make even a small shift in the American way of thinking about saving water," water resources expert Samuel Sandoval Solis of the University of California, Davis, told DW. For him, this proposal represents a "backward step".
Photo: AP Photo/JMark SchiefelbeinUS President Donald Trump
What is Trump proposing?
Trump wants to "repeal useless water pressure standards" that he considers "burdensome." It's part of a long American tradition of opposition to environmental regulations, says Mattin Duren, an environmental engineer at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. "Culturally, people in the United States just don't like regulation," Duren said. "In Europe, people are more open to these kinds of regulations if they are for the common good," he added.
In May, the Trump administration announced a directive suspending enforcement of the 1992 Water Efficiency Act's restrictions on toilet water use. He also recommended that Congress try to repeal the law, which would create a more permanent change that would outlive any individual president.
House Republicans took the initiative and passed legislation with the colorful name of the "My Home Appliance Privacy Act" that would make it easier for the Department of Energy to lower energy conservation standards. The bill is unlikely to pass the Senate.
For years, Trump has complained about flimsy toilets and showers, promising to "make showers great again" and repealing household energy efficiency standards. "People flush the toilet 10 times, 15 times, instead of once," he said in 2019. "You walk into a new building or a new house and you don't have water, you practically can't wash your hands, so little water comes out of the tap."
Engineers in the field say that's an outdated objection. Manufacturers really struggled in the early 1990s to redesign toilets to meet standards, causing many public complaints about "poor flow". However, technology has advanced rapidly.
"When the president complains that his toilets don't flush well, that's a thing of the past. Maybe some older toilets years ago were really bad. That's possible. But today's toilets are rigorously tested," said Ron Burke, who heads the Chicago-based nonprofit Alliance for Water Efficiency.
Photo: FreepikDebate in the US on the wasteful relationship in water management
Part of the toilet in use is outdated
There is one area where American toilet technology remains outdated – but it's the amount of water they still use, not that they use too little, as Trump claims.
A 1992 law mandated that every new American toilet use no more than 1,6 gallons per flush. In Europe, it's the standard for a stronger flush, but many toilets across the continent also have a dual flush option with less than a gallon per use for liquid waste. The dual flush system never really caught on in America, despite being more efficient in terms of water usage.
In addition, older wasteful models are still common in America.
More than one in five toilets in the United States still use 3,5 gallons of water per flush or more, according to a 2019 study by Plumbing Manufacturers International (PMI). Some use as much as 5 gallons or more if manufactured before 1980. year.
PMI estimates that about 2,4 million so-called "legacy" toilets are still in use in drought-stricken California -- replacing them with more efficient models that use 1,28 gallons per flush could save the state 14,1 billion gallons of water.
With California facing the possibility of future major droughts, ongoing water shortages in the Colorado River and the fact that the nation's two largest reservoirs are at about one-third of their normal capacity, the state is trying to conserve water wherever possible.
"What the Trump administration is proposing is actually in direct conflict with the challenges many communities across the United States face in maintaining a reliable and affordable water supply," Burke said.
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