On January 1, 2017 homeowners of single family homes across California will be required to install water-conserving plumbing fixtures if the property was built before 1994. This is NOT a point-of-sale requirement. It is required by virtue of owning a home built before 1994. (California Civil Code 1101.1 through 1101.9) If you wait  until after January 1st you won’t be able to even buy a 1.6 gallon toilet because under new mandatory         standards toilets sold in California can’t use more than 1.28 gallons past that date.

1. Can an owner comply by putting a brick in the toilet tank?
2. No. The law bases compliance on whether a toiled is manufactured to use more than 1.6 gallons of water per flush, regardless of the amount of water actually used. Therefore, displacing water in the tank with bricks, bottles, or the installation/adjustment of flush valves will not pout you in  compliance with this law, even though you might be saving just as much water.

All new models are “low–flow” toilets — by law they can use no more than 1.6 gallons of water per flush. Prior to 1994, most toilets on the market used at least 3.5 gallons, or about 20 gallons of  water per person per day — the most water used by any household appliance.

What fixtures must be installed/replaced?

• Any toilet manufactured to use more than 1.6 gallons of water per flush.
• Any urinal manufactured to use more than 1 gallon of water per flush.
• Any showerhead manufactured to have a flow capacity of more than 2.5 gallons of water per  minute.
• Any interior faucet that emits more than 2.2 gallons of water per minute.

What does that mean to you? It is unreasonable to think that someone is going to knock on your door and ask to inspect your toilet but if you want to do any work on your home from replacing windows to building an addition or anything else that requires a city  inspector to come out, you will have to be in  compliance with all the water conservation  standards in order to get final approval.

Let the Stovall Team help with your Real  Estate goals. Call us today  at 714.343.9294 or  714.393.5377  stovallteam.com

Sources: California Association of Realtors, Robert Bloom, Esq;  Micah Stovall, The Stovall Team