Toilets and showers together account for almost 44% of total annual water consumption per household.

Low-flow showerheads and ultra-low-flush toilets can substantially reduce a building’s water and energy use, and can be installed at a relatively low cost.

The County of Santa Cruz, the City of Santa Cruz, and the City of Capitola have adopted water conservation ordinances that require the installation of water saving fixtures in all residential, commercial, and industrial buildings prior to a change of ownership.

City staff has developed materials for the City web site to assist realtors in informing clients about the new regulations and process. They have also developed informational handouts to assist property owners in determining how much water their toilets use and whether or not they would need to be replaced. Outreach to the local real estate industry and insurance companies has been undertaken through written notice and presentations.

The Realtors Association was initially opposed to a time-of-sale requirement, believing it would add cost and complication to property sales, increase the burden and responsibility of buyers, sellers, and realtors, and produce inefficient compliance rates. Because they were involved early on, however, they had the opportunity to review and influence a draft ordinance.

Verification and enforcement will be an important component of the ordinance in order to ensure compliance and to measure impact. The enforcement process is clearly laid out and lack of compliance will result in a violation being recorded against the property. All property sellers will be required to provide the buyer with written certification of compliance. The City will allow the seller to transfer responsibility of retrofitting fixtures to the buyer with additional documentation.

The City of Santa Cruz reports a savings of at least 41 million gallons of water per year, with a 98% compliance rate and over 6000 toilet fixtures replaced. At full implementation, it is estimated that this type of retrofit ordinance will reduce annual water demand by 100 million gallons.

The City estimates that $75,000 to 100,000 annually will be needed to cover the increased demand on the toilet rebate program. Additional funds may also be required in the future for increased personnel services needed to administer the ordinance. Property owners will bear the majority of the costs of the program, but also the savings in water cost.