Clean or Green? The Toilet Debate

One thing we haven't been too concerned about with the bathroom reno is finding a new toilet. Early on, we spotted the American Standard Cadet 3 Compact at our local Home Depot. The size was right, the price was right, it was on the city's rebate list, and it had good reviews. We weren't entirely fond of the design and we'd have to wait for the toilet to come in (its currently out of stock across the city) but those definitely weren't deal breakers.

But then HandyMan and I paid a visit to PMF Plumbing, a distributor who would let DH take advantage of his architect's discount (gotta love that!). We went and visited their showroom... and all our original selections about fixtures went right out the window :o\

We found another viable option for the toilet, the Kohler Prelude. It is dual flush high efficiency toilet, even more compact in size, a comparable price, and the stylish design works with the vanity we've chosen. Some drawbacks though... well, I worry about the toilet's ability to expel waste cleanly on the first flush (sometimes a problem with high efficiency toilets). Plus, the Prelude toilet has a Maximum Performance (MaP) rating of 350 grams, compared to the Cadet 3's impressive 1000 grams.

What is a MaP rating? A Canadian and American engineer developed Maximum Performance (MaP) testing to identify how well popular toilets (nearly 730 different models) performed bulk waste removal using a realistic test media, and to grade each toilet model based on this relative performance -- an excellent reference for anyone shopping for a toilet! The MaP level is "the maximum media loading (expressed in grams) at which the toilet model successfully clears all media from fixture in at least four of five attempts." Basically, a MaP level gives you an indication of a toilet's flush performance - the higher the level, the better. For the study, the minimum recommended MaP level was 250 grams.

So here is the dilemma... while the Prelude saves on water, it has lower flushing performance. You could argue that even with the occasional double-flush, you'd still be saving water overall with the Prelude. What to choose, what to choose... a toilet that is sure to get the bowl "clean", or one that helps you be "green" and conserve water??