Save, Save, Save with High Efficiency Toilets

All Toilets Are Not Created Equal!

You probably don’t realize it, but your toilet uses more water than any other appliance in your house. The average toilet in the US is responsible for about 30 percent of a household’s total water consumption each year. A high efficiency toilet is a great way to cut down on water consumption, using less water per flush and chopping your home’s water use in half.

Over the last five decades, American water consumption has increased a whopping 209 percent, and the average American uses more than 100 gallons of water every day. That’s the equivalent of 584,000 glasses of water per person each year! When you consider that toilets comprise at least 30 percent of that annual usage, it makes sense to look for alternatives like high efficiency toilets to help reduce consumption.

In order to understand how high efficiency toilets can make a difference, it helps to review a bit of toilet history. Before 1980, toilets used about five gallons of water per flush. Between 1980 and 1994, improvements in technology pushed the industry standard back to about 3.5 gallons per flush, where it remains today. A high efficiency toilet, however, uses just 1.5 gallons or less per flush than your typical toilet in use today.

If you were to replace just one toilet in your home with a high efficiency toilet, you could save nearly 4000 gallons of water per person every year. If your bathroom fixtures are older or you have a toilet that leaks, you can save even more with a high efficiency toilet. If every home in America replaced one toilet with a high efficiency toilet, we could save an astounding 900 billion gallons of water each year!

So, high efficiency toilets are clearly a smart choice for the environment. But what about your pocketbook?

It’s no secret that eco-friendly choices in home improvement often help you save money on utility costs; high efficiency toilets are no exception. Installing a high efficiency toilet in your home can save you about $90 on your water bill annually, and as much as $2000 over the life of the toilet. Your high efficiency toilet will pay for itself several times over before it wears out—a very smart investment. What’s more, because you’ll be using less water by using a high efficiency toilet, you’ll be doing your part to reduce strain on your municipal water supply. Waste treatment, water purification, maintenance of city pipes and sewers, and everything else that has to happen every time you flush your toilet all cost money. So cutting back on your home’s water use is good for everyone.

Before you purchase a high efficiency toilet, talk to a representative at your local water supplier for information about rebates or discounts that may be offered in your area. In most cases, these rebates range anywhere from $25 to $175 or more. Whether you want to replace an old, inefficient toilet, are concerned about water conservation, or are in the market for a new toilet, consult a toilet retailer for more information about high efficiency toilets. And, of course, the plumbing professionals from Horizon Services are always available to help you install your new high efficiency toilet and provide reliable plumbing service 24/7/365!



Related Information from Horizon Services...

• Horizon Plumbing Services
• Make Sure You're Covered for Sewer Backups
• 9 Ways to Save Water
• How To Properly Use a Plunger to Unclog a Toilet, Sink or Tub

Durian Soft Cheesecake

I know the weather has been extremely hot and it's not good to eat durian at this time but when I see some durian selling in the market, I just can't help myself to buy some for baking. So, here I made a light version of durian cheesecake that called for only a little amount of durian flesh which yield a light version of durian cheesecake. The texture is similar to Japanese cotton cheesecake, quite moist and soft. 

One thing that I always worry on making soft cheesecake is the cake might crack on the surface and shrink terribly. This time the top still have a bit of crack but not too much. Perhaps I could still turn the heat slightly lower. As I know it's definitely going to be shrank, so what I do is to help it shrink nicely. Grease the side of the pan with butter and coated with bread flour. I find this method quite good. Although the weather is quite hot, this light and moist durian cheesecake quite a refreshing dessert. Just to make sure it's cool enough to serve.

Recipe from Chef Alan Kok

1 slice 7" sponge cake (I used 8")

250g cream cheese

3 egg yolks

150ml fresh milk

150g durian flesh

3 egg whites

60g caster sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 7" round cake tin (I used 8" , serves 9) with grease proof paper and put in a slice of prepared sponge cake (I greased the side of the pan with butter and coated with bread flour) 


2. Beat cream cheese, egg yolks at low speed until well mixed. Add fresh milk, durian flesh and mix well.


3. In a clean mixing bowl, whisk egg white and caster sugar at high speed until soft peak is formed. Mix in mixture (2) in 3 batches.


4. Pour mixture onto sponge cake.


5. Steam bake the cheesecake at 180C for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 140C and bake for another 1 1/2 hours.


6. Leave cake to cool in the oven with door ajar 1 hour. Chill in the fridge for overnight. 

Ingredients for the plain sponge cake:

(Please follow the video clip)

140g plain flour / 4 eggs / 30g milk / 180g sugar / 4g salt / 30g oil

Tomato Gojju

Tomato Gojju is a very popular side dish for Chapathi's, Dosas and some Rice varieties. Tomato Gojju is called so in Karnataka and Thakkali Gothsu is the name for the dish in Tamil. The same Gojju can be mixed with white rice to make Tomato Rice / Baath. This forms the base for Tomato Rice/Tomato Baath. It tastes delicious when served as a side dish with Venn Pongal/ Khara Pongal. This is one of the exclusive recipes from my Mother's kitchen and an all time favorite at my Mom's place.This is how you make it.

Ingredients:

3 medium sized tomatoes (Finely chopped)
2 medium sized onions (Finely chopped)
3-4 green chillies (Finely chopped)
2 cloves of garlic (Minced or chopped)

1 teaspoon of Fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1 teaspoon of red chili powder (optional)
1 sprig of curry leaves
1 tablespoon of finely chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds, Urad Dal and Chana Dal
Salt to taste
Oil for seasoning (About a table spoon)


Method:

For the Gojju Powder:

• In a small fry pan, roast the Cumin seeds and the Fenugreek seeds together until the aroma from both the spices are released. 
• Grind it into a slightly coarse powder and keep it aside.

For the Gojju :

• Take a deep pan and add about a tablespoon of oil.
• Once the oil is hot add Mustard seeds, Urad Dal, Chana Dal and curry leaves.
• After the mustard seeds crackle, add the chopped onions and green chillies.

• Then add the garlic and mix well. Garlic is added after onions and green chillies to prevent it from burning.

• Sauté them until translucent.Then add the chopped tomatoes and mix well.

• Now add the turmeric powder, salt and red chili powder. Along with all these add the ground Fenugreek and Cumin powder. 

• Mix all the ingredients well. Cover and cook for about 5-7 minutes on medium heat.

• Mix the contents in between and cook for an additional 5-10minutes.

• Garnish with cilantro.Tomato Gojju is ready to serve.

Enjoy eating and I will be back with a new recipe soon!!

Notes:

• Red Chilli powder is for the extra red color. It can be adjusted to taste and is optional since we already added green chillies.