Low-Flush Toilets by Alex Wilson At a 1980 workshop, energy guru Amory Lovins suggested that our energy problems were relatively easy to solve. Far more difficult, he said, would be coming to grips with impending water shortages. Indeed, water consumption and price trends in this country are alarming. Since the 1950s, water consumption has doubled. Since 1972, water prices have increased 400 percent. Heavy water use is putting a big demand on existing reservoirs and water supplies throughout the country. In the arid Southwest, problems are evident. But even in our own backyard, concerns are increasing about water supplies, especially during drought years. Toilets are our largest water users. In most households, toilet flushing accounts for 40 percent of water use. Most toilets in
