Envirolet® Buzz reports that a community college in Washington has saved almost 200,000 gallons of water simply by replacing automatic flush sensors with a push button flush system. Envirolet® Buzz would prefer a waterless toilets or composting toilets be installed, but acknowledges that anything that saves water is a positive move.

College flush with saved water ‘Some students were beginning to wonder if the toilets at Cascadia Community College were possessed. Sanitary seat covers would be whisked away before one could use them. Slight movements would spark premature flushes. And the blame couldn’t be pinned solely on a full moon. A black sweater would be enough to set the toilet whooshing. ‘Even if there’s no one in the stall, they’ll go off - just walking past,’ said student Kristen Bell, 17. ‘It’s just unnecessary.’ Cascadia administrators agreed and turned off the automatic sensors, urging students and staff to instead push a button to flush toilets. A year later, the ‘Push to Flush’ campaign has saved more than the frazzled nerves of many posteriors. Over an eight-month period starting in May 2004, the college saved 177,276 gallons of water compared with the same period in 2003, according to water bills. At 1.6 gallons per flush, that’s 110,797 fewer bowls of water down the drain, enough to run the Cascadia campus for two-and-a-half months, or seven households for a year.’

Via Envirolet® Buzz via Heraldnet.