Below is a useful article from U-T San Diego about a rebate for low-flush toilets. You can see the original article here.

Straight flush: $50 rebates
Water agencies aim to cut the flow with $19.1 million in dough
By Roger Showley NOON JULY 18, 2013

Toilet rebates are back.

Buy a WaterSense toilet for as little as $65, and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California will send you a $50 check. Other rebates are available for apartments and commercial toilets and urinals.

MWD budgeted $19.1 million for the program that began July 1 after a two-year gap. The San Diego County Water Authority and its member agencies pay MWD out of customer charges to cover the program locally, but the rebates are available on a first-come, first-served basis throughout the MWD service area.

The San Diego agency said it covered about 500,000 toilet rebates, worth between $35 and $100 each, from 1991 until the program expired. Officials estimate the water savings at about 228 billion gallons over the 20-year life of the toilets. That’s the equivalent of about one week’s worth of water flowing over Niagara Falls.

But even more water can be saved with the latest, lower-flow toilet designed for only 1.28 gallons per flush, down from the previous standard of 1.6 gallons and older models of 3.5 or 5 gallons.

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These new models are labeled “WaterSense,” an EPA certified standard. The EPA estimates a WaterSense toilet could save a homeowner 13,000 gallons and $90 in water costs per year.

TO GET A REBATE

  • Place a reservation online atsocalwatersmart.com; if you don’t have a computer, visit your local library and apply on a computer there. Only one rebate per address is available, so change out all your toilets at the same time to maximize the rebate.
  • Buy a qualified toilet; a 38-page list of models is available online. Local retailers and plumbers may also have the list.
  • Within 60 days of your application, mail copies of the rebate confirmation form and sales receipt to SoCal WaterSmart Rebate Program, 3800 Watt Ave., Suite 105, Sacramento CA 95821. Scanned copies of the forms may also be emailed to the program administrator listed on the confirmation form. It takes several weeks to receive a check. (Inspectors have not been hired to confirm that you actually install the toilet.)
  • Information: Lori Swanson at the San Diego County Water Authority, (858) 522-6768, watersmartsd.org, or SoCal WaterSmart, (888) 376-3314, socalwatersmart.com. The program is only available through June 30, 2014, after which only high-efficiency toilets may be sold in California.

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Additionally, check out this article by Water Tech Advice on how to conserve water in your daily activities including laundry, toilets, sinks, leaks, gardening, car washing, and more. Every time we waste water, it adds up rapidly. Do you want to lower your water bill and help the environment at the same time? Read the tips in the Water Tech Advice article to get started. We can all do a little more every day to help the place in which we live.