Get a dual-flush toilet to reduce your water bills   

Water supply companies around the country are racing to increase their tariffs, leading to higher bills for households. Your loo might just save you a significant amount of money. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Most of the 91 water service providers in the country have been applying for tariff hikes to cover their costs, including network expansion and reduction of non-revenue water. Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company was, for example, granted an increase in tariffs late last year, which saw the cost of water go up by 93 per cent.

Water supply companies around the country are racing to increase their tariffs, leading to higher bills for households. Your loo might just save you a significant amount of money.

A dual-flush toilet can help save thousands of litres of water every month and reduce your bill considerably. Many households still have the traditional lever flush toilet that consumes considerably more litres and, therefore, money.

The toilet has two buttons - each button flushes a certain amount of water. The units usually have a tank capacity of nine litres (for solid waste) and three litres (for liquid waste).

A low-cost dual flush unit goes for  between Sh8,000 and Sh9,000, which is about what a traditional single-flush toilet costs. A quality unit that will last for years costs more than Sh20,000.

Most of the 91 water service providers in the country have been applying for tariff hikes to cover their costs, including network expansion and reduction of non-revenue water. Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company was, for example, granted an increase

in tariffs late last year, which saw the cost of water go up by 93 per cent.

The regulator, the Water Services Regulatory Board (Wasreb), has been granting tariff hikes to many other utility companies since early last year in what it says is meant to reflect the cost of producing the water.

The increase in the cost of water comes amidst other tax pressures like the Value Added Tax and excise tax recently introduced on other household items.

While a dual flush toilet might seem expensive, in the long run, investing in one will be worth it.