US President Donald Trump’s latest target for deregulation is Americans’ toilets.
The US president on Friday said he ordered a federal review of water efficiency standards in bathroom fixtures and complained that “people are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times as opposed to once” in homes with low-flow appliances.
He said other bathroom fixtures have slowed water to a trickle.
Photo: Reuters
“You can’t wash your hands practically, there’s so little water comes out of the faucet, and the end result is you leave the faucet on and it takes you much longer to wash your hands, you end up using the same amount of water,” Trump said at an event with small-business owners at the White House.
The US president said it was “common sense” to review standards he said resulted in showers with water “quietly dripping out” and toilets that “end up using more water” because of repeat flushing.
Trump has championed rolling back regulations since taking office in 2017, with a focus on environmental rules imposed or proposed during the administration of former US president Barack Obama.
The US president routinely portrays himself as a champion of the environment, while his critics say he has weakened regulations intended to fight climate change, conserve resources and promote clean air and water.
While Trump said the US Environmental Protection Agency was looking at the standards “at my suggestion,” a review of the WaterSense program was mandated under legislation passed last year by US Congress that said the agency should look at any regulations adopted before 2012.
That means the US government is forced to revisit specifications for tank-type toilets, lavatory faucets and faucet accessories, showerheads, flushing urinals, and weather-based irrigation controllers.
Those regulations include a 20 percent reduction in water use on tank-type toilets compared with standards adopted in 1992, and a 32 percent reduction in maximum water flow on lavatory faucets, the agency said.
However, the US government has also said that the water savings make a difference — particularly in bathrooms, which represent more than half of all indoor water use.
The agency has said an average American family can save US$380 in water costs per year and save more than 64 liters per day by using appliances certified to WaterSense standards.
Trump has similarly complained about light bulb energy efficiency requirements imposed under Obama, and his administration this fall announced that it would roll back the rules.
The US president mentioned that effort during Friday’s event, complaining that energy-efficient light bulbs made him appear orange.
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