No Longer ‘If It’s Yellow, Let It Mellow’

Harvard students, always clamoring for more choice, are now flush with options when it comes to their bathroom activities.

Over the summer, all bathrooms in Kirkland, Eliot, and Dunster Houses were outfitted with brand new toilets that now include water-conserving flushing handles, or “flushometers.”

The dual-flush handles—painted a bright green—can be pulled up for liquid waste, releasing only 1.1 gallons of water per flush, or they can be pulled down for solid waste, releasing 1.6 gallons of water per flush.

According to Jay M. Phillips, the director of building infrastructure and operations for the FAS Office of Physical Resources, the new toilets were installed in the Houses that were not being used by Harvard Summer School students.

“The toilet project was part of a bigger project called ‘off-line deferred maintenance activities,’” Phillips said. “We try to couple our upgrades with energy efficient modifications and this happens to be one of those.”

Phillips, who is also a member of the Resource Efficiency Program Task Force, said that the dual flush handles were installed on 508 units and cost an additional $15 per unit. While Phillips did not know the reason behind the green color, he speculated it was because green represents environmentally-friendly practices.

“For the cost increase it makes good sense to do it because if a good percentage use it, we’re saving resources,” Phillips said.

While Adams House was also “offline” this past summer, the dual flush handles were not installed there because Adams—like most of the Houses—was already equipped with conventional low-flow toilets that typically use between 1.6 and 1.9 gallons per flush. According to Phillips, approximately 80 percent of residential toilets at Harvard are low-flow.

“We took it one step further by adding the dual flushometers to the low-flow toilets that enables a person to either select either half a flush or a full flush,” Phillips said.

Phillips said that many of the toilets installed in the Houses before the last several years had been around since the 1930’s, and used between seven to nine gallons of water per flush.

“When you save water you are saving additional resources because it takes energy and resources to run the water treatment plants,” Phillips said.

In addition to dual flushing actions, the new bright green handles are more germ resistant and come with flushing instructions on the wall. But Phillips admitted there may be a gray area between solid and liquid waste.

“What happens with the 1.1 gallons—it tends to displace the contents of the bowl rather than force the contents down the waste-pipe,” Phillips said. “You might be able to get away with a small amount of toilet paper. If you think about women who are going to use it, it will probably take care of that small amount of toilet paper.”

Student reaction to the new toilets and flushometers was generally positive.

Jacob S. Model ’07, a Dunster House resident, supported the new improvement and said he is generally good about following the flushing instructions posted on the wall.

“I think it’s an improvement and if it’s more efficient then all the better,” Model said. “I would say probably 90 percent of the time, yes.”

Phillips said that they have received fewer maintenance calls for clogged toilets since the low-flow toilets have been installed, and they may consider making all toilets dual-flush in the future.

“We’re going to keep an eye on how they go because we can retro-fit the existing low-flow toilets with the dual handle for $25 per toilet. If it’s advantageous we’ll do that.”

—Staff writer Evan M. Vittor can be reached at evittor@fas.harvard.edu.