MWU's Toilet Rebate Program renewed for 2015

Madison Water Utility has renewed its popular Toilet Rebate Program for 2015 in hopes of encouraging more homeowners to install water-efficient toilets. Customers can receive one rebate of up to $100 per household if they replace an older toilet with a new, high-efficiency model that uses no more than 1.28 gallons per flush and has been endorsed by the EPA’s WaterSense Program.
 
Thousands of homeowners have taken advantage of the utility’s Toilet Rebate Program since it started in 2009. We estimate it’s saved well over 100 million gallons of water and has helped the city drop its daily water usage from 73 gallons per person in 2008 to 61 gallons today. Madison Water Utility is working to further reduce that number to 58 gallons by the year 2020 through conservation initiatives like the Toilet Rebate Program and the utility’s new online water use tracking tool.
 
Madison Water Utility has set aside $250,000 in our 2015 budget to pay for the rebates, which can also be used for apartments. Older toilets can waste enormous amounts of water, using as much as five gallons per flush, adding up to about 10 thousand gallons per person every year. But the move toward more efficient appliances and fixtures like high-efficiency toilets is clearly starting to make a difference. As we end 2014, Madison Water Utility is on track to see our lowest annual pumping total in almost 45 years, despite serving a much higher population.