June 23, 1999

To:Works Committee

From:Barry H. Gutteridge, Commissioner of Works & Emergency Services

Subject:1999 Ultra Low Flush (ULF) Toilet Incentive Program

Purpose:

To recommend a program to replace approximately 10,000 existing high-consumption (13 litres or more per flush) toilets located in the multi-residential property sector with Ultra Low Flush (ULF) six-litre toilets as a quick start component of the City's Water Efficiency Plan. This ULFT₉₉ Program will also test the disposal methods and reuse options for the existing high-consumption toilets.

Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

The 1999 Water and Wastewater Capital Works Program- Water Efficiency Budget included funds in the amount of $665,000.00 for a multi-residential Ultra Low Flush Toilet (ULFT₉₉ ) replacement program of which $615,000.00 will be used as financial incentives for the multi-residential property owners to replace existing high-consumption toilets and $50,000.00 will be used to promote the ULFT₉₉ program.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

1.authority be given to offer multi-residential property owners a financial incentive to replace existing high-consumption toilets with Ultra Low Flush toilets in the amount of $60.00 per floor outlet toilets using 13 to 20 litres per flush and $75.00 per back-outlet toilet using 20 litres per flush;

2. the City pre-qualify through an RFP process approximately 6 Performance Contractors to undertake the ultra low flush toilet change out program as well as a showerhead and faucet aerator program in the multi-residential sector;

3.the Solid Waste Management fees be waived for the disposal of all existing high-consumption toilets replaced through this program;

4.the appropriate City officials be granted the authority necessary to give effect thereto.

Council Reference/Background/History:

The former Metro Toronto Council adopted a target reduction in its average day water production capacity of 15% through water efficiency strategies by year 2011. The City of Toronto is currently developing a Water Efficiency Plan (WEP) aimed at meeting this target with a range of water efficiency strategies. The recommendations from the WEP will be reported on to your Committee later this year. As an initial quick start initiative and as a follow up program to a pilot Ultra Low Flush replacement program undertaken by Metro in 1997 it is recommended that a financial based incentive Ultra Low Flush Toilet replacement program be offered to the multi-residential sector for the remainder of 1999.

The former Metro Council undertook an Ultra Low Flush Toilet Pilot Project on February 12th, and 13th, 1997. This pilot offered a $75.00 incentive to single-family and multi-family residential sectors for every existing toilet replaced. A total of 300 toilets were replaced in the four buildings with a water savings of about 20,000 m³. Results from this pilot demonstrated that the four multi-residential buildings received, on average, a 30% reduction in water consumption. The average cost of a toilet installation is $300.00 and the cost to the property owner after the rebate is approximately $225.00. Based on the 30% water savings, the homeowner will recover the cost of the toilet installation in 3 years or less from water savings.

Comments and/or Discussion and/or Justification:

The Water Efficiency Plan (WEP) has identified replacement of high-consumption toilets in the multi-residential sector as one water efficiency initiative which is technically feasible, cost effective and socially acceptable. The ULF toilets use 6 litres per flush consequently there is approximately a 50 to 70 percent reduction in water use associated with these toilets over the 12 litre to 20 litre high consumption toilets. The multi-residential sector is an ideal target for the initial toilet change out program due to the demographics of the multi-residential sector which tend to have a higher percentage of young families and consequently a higher per capita water consumption.

There are approximately 450,000 multi-residential units in the city of Toronto. Approximately 10 per cent of these have been retrofitted with ULF toilets to date. The objective of this multi-residential replacement program, is to replace 10,000 units this year, and increase the replacement to at least 25,000 units each year to 2011, subject to approval of capital funding for the continuation of this program in each subsequent year.

Staff have determined from the pilot study undertaken in 1997, and from measurements taken on actual replacements in the City, that on average the water savings expected by installing 10,000 high-quality ULF toilets in the multi-residential sector will amount to about 225 litres/day for every toilet or about 820,000 m³/year.

It is proposed to offer a financial incentive of $60.00 per toilet to building owners for all existing high-consumption water use toilets using more than 13 litres/flush. An incentive of $75.00 per toilet will be offered to building owners who choose to replace the more expensive back-outlet toilets. It is estimated that these toilets make up about three to four percent of the total number of inefficient toilet stock in this sector. These existing back-outlet toilets are very expensive to replace, are poor flushers and use as much as 20 litres per flush. The City will provide incentives for the replacement of approximately 1,000 of the back-outlet toilets.

The Performance Contractors may choose to install showerheads and faucet aerators as water and energy saving devices for the multi-residential property owners. Enbridge Consumers Gas has expressed interest in the ULFT₉₉ Program and has agreed to provide an additional incentive to the multi-residential property owners in the amount of $5.40 per unit for every showerhead and faucet aerator replaced up to a maximum of $54,000.00 provided that the building uses natural gas to heat their domestic hot water.

It is proposed to implement the ULF₉₉ Program by pre selecting a number of Performance Contractors to undertake the toilet installations for the multi-residential property owners. The City of Toronto will pre-select, through a Request for Qualifications process, approximately six contractors, who are competent and appropriately experienced to undertake this work. Multi-residential property owners may request proposals from one or more of the Performance Contractors on an ULF change-out programs. The proposals should provide, among other things, the amount of guaranteed water and energy savings and length of pay back period for each owner to consider. The owners will contract with the Performance Contractor that best meets their business plan for a low flush change-out program.

Contractors who wish to be qualified as Performance Contractors will be rated according to the following criteria:

a)licensed/registered status under all applicable laws (mandatory);

b)extent and compliance with performance guarantees given to customers;

a)years in business;

b)financial references and bonding capacity;

c)management experience and skills;

d)qualifications and references of key personnel;

e)co-ordination techniques/abilities;

f)ability to achieve timely project completion;

g)annual volume of water saved; and

h)annual number of toilets replaced

k)provision of CSA approved toilets

Under the ULF₉₉ Program, multi-residential building owners will become entitled to receive a per-unit financial incentive if they have a registered Performance Contractor carry out the replacement and provide certification to the City as to the make/model of the ULF toilets, the day of completion of their installation, proof of toilet disposal at the Keele Valley Landfill, and required payment terms.

The City will provide the names of all registered qualified Performance Contractors to multi-residential owners applying for financial incentives, and it will be up to each selected owner to make contractual arrangements with one of such contractors.

The use of Performance Contractors is imperative for successful ULF toilet replacements, in that they have several years of experience in the installation and monitoring of high-quality ULF toilets in the multi-residential sectors. In addition, Performance Contractors provide an unique business arrangement under which they can provide a turnkey service of water and energy analysis, engineering, financing and operator training to implement a successful water and energy efficiency improvement project in a building facility through Performance Guarantees.

All privately owned buildings will be require to use Performance Contractors in order to qualify into the program. All publicly owned buildings will have the option to use Performance Contractors or in-house staff for replacements. Incentives will be offered such that 75 per cent will be allocated for private sector and 25 per cent will be allocated to the public sector respectively. Building owners located within the City of Toronto will submit an application to the Works and Emergency Services Department to qualify into the program. This program will be administered by staff of the Technical Services and Water & Wastewater divisions.

It is important to note that ultra low flush toilet manufacturers are required to meet the quality of manufacturing established by the Canadian Standards Association. This standard exceeds other manufacturing standards for ultra low flush toilets such as the ASTM manufacturing standards common throughout the U.S. The Terms of Reference for selecting Performance Contractors will require that only the CSA standard of manufacturing will be supplied under this program. Staff have consulted with the City of Barrie, Durham Region, Region of Waterloo and the City of Victoria each of whom have undertaken ultra low flush toilet change-out programs and determined that the complaint frequency regarding the operation of the ultra low flush toilets has been less than 1%

Approximately 10,000 existing, high consumption toilets will be removed from circulation and destroyed:

1.to prevent them from being re-installed in Toronto or sold to other nations; and

2.to divert them from landfill.

The porcelain collected through the ULF₉₉ Program will be reused as aggregate for lining of the gas collection trenches at the Keele Valley Landfill site. Normally, crushed limestone is purchased at a cost of about $14.00 per tonne for the gas collection trenches. We expect to collect approximately 380 tonnes of existing high consumption toilets for reuse, thus saving approximately $5,300.00 in aggregate costs.

To ensure that only toilets from this program are disposed of free of charge, staff from the Solid Waste Management and Water and Wastewater Divisions are jointly preparing a validation system to track the disposal methods of all existing, high consumption toilets before any incentives are paid out. Basically, the number of toilets being installed must equal the number of toilets being disposed of.

It is proposed that all Solid Waste Management fees be waived for the disposal of toilets during this program.

Conclusions:

Toronto's population is growing and the City must be able to meet the increased water supply and wastewater needs of this growth. As a sound environmental principle, water efficiency will play an important role in meeting future water demand. The City is committed to a 15% reduction target of projected average annual day demands through the implementation of water efficiency measures by the year 2011. The ULFT₉₉ Program will assist the City in meeting this target.

This program will be analysed and re-evaluated at the end of 1999. A full program roll-out, target replacement and budget will be set for the year 2000 and beyond. Interested stakeholders will be consulted throughout the development of present and future programs.

There is sufficient funding of $719,000.00 from the approved 1999 Capital Works Program WS021-T20342 Water Efficiency Program - Implementation Projects, to implement the ULFT₉₉ Program in the multi-residential sector in the City of Toronto as described in this report.

Contact Name:

Roman Kaszczij, P. Eng.

Engineer - Water Efficiency

Tel: (416) 392-4967

Fax: (416) 392-2974

Michael A. Price, P. Eng., FICE

General Manager

Water and Wastewater Services

Barry H. Gutteridge

Commissioner

Works and Emergency Services