U.S. Water News Online
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Some Albuquerque homeowners are
balking
at the city's toilet trade-in program because the $100 rebates
toward the purchase of low-flow toilets are available only if
a city-approved plumber conducts the installation. Although the
rebate covers most of the cost of a new water-conserving toilet,
the professional plumbing charges reportedly range from $50 to
$200.
One city resident was so upset over the requirement that she
called
Albuquerque's water conservation hotline to complain. A couple
of years ago, said Julie Anderson, she and her husband installed
a low-flow toilet in about 30 minutes. "It was such a simple
process, I couldn't imagine you would have to have a plumber do
it," said Anderson, who wanted to take advantage of the $100
rebate in the city's "Operation Low Flow" program to
install a second new toilet in her home. After learning that a
plumber had to do the job, she said, "I told them to forget
it."
Albuquerque officials contend that since they can't afford to
police the rebate program, they are relying on plumbers to
certify
that a high-water use toilet was replaced by a low-flow model.
To be listed in the program, a licensed plumber first must pay
to take a two-hour class about the rebate program. The class at
Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute costs $49 per plumber.
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