Donald Trump has ordered a review of water-saving toilets and taps, complaining that people are flushing “10 or 15 times, instead of once”.
Continuing his crusade against environmentally friendly home fixtures, the US president claimed low-flowing toilets, faucets and shower heads wasted more water.
Mr Trump described the difficulty of washing your hands when allegedly very little water was “dripping out” and having to repeatedly perform a flush, saying it needed investigating.
“We have a situation where we’re looking very strongly at sinks and showers and other elements of bathrooms where you turn the faucet on… and you don’t get any water,” the President said.
“You turn on the faucet and you don’t get any water.
“They take a shower and water comes dripping out. Just dripping out, very quietly dripping out,” he said.
“People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once.”
The president made the comments at the White House during a roundtable with small business leaders at a time when he is facing an impeachment inquiry.
Here's the video, via WaPo, of Trump discussing toilet flushing: "We have a situation where we're looking very strongly at sinks and showers, and other elements of bathrooms … You turn on the faucet and you don't get any water … People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times." pic.twitter.com/pPE0im4RxL
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 6, 2019
“You go into a new building or a new house or a new home and they have standards, only you don’t get water,” he claimed.
“You can’t wash your hands practically, there’s so little water comes out of the faucet.
“And the end result is you leave the faucet on and it takes you much longer to wash your hands.”
Mr Trump continued: “For the most part you have many states where they have so much water — it comes down, it’s called rain.
“They don’t know what to do with it.
“So we’re going to be looking at opening up that I believe. And we’re looking at changing the standards very soon.”
Mr Trump also repeated his concern about energy-saving lightbulbs – of which he has spoken in the past – claiming the bulb tints don’t “make you look as good”.
“Being a vain person, that’s really important to me,” he said. “It gives you an orange look, I don’t want an orange look.”
The Department of Energy has already moved to rescind rules on energy efficiency bulbs which were introduced under Barack Obama and it appears Mr Trump wants similar action on water-fixtures and appliances.
The US president said the Environmental Protection Agency was “looking at that very strongly at my suggestion”.
Donald Trump claims that “people are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times as opposed to once” due to a lack of water pressure. Have YOU ever had to flush a toilet 10 times or more? 🧐
— Jon Cooper 🇺🇸 (@joncoopertweets) December 7, 2019
Low-flush toilets have been used in the USA since the 1990s when laws were introduced under President George HW Bush for the installation of new toilets.
The EPA has a WaterSense program for voluntary labelling of water-efficient fixtures such as showerheads, while showerhead pressure has been regulated since the 1990s through the Energy Department.
WaterSense’s website explains that replacing showerheads with efficient models can save four gallons (15L) during every a shower while replacing taps and aerators can save 700 gallons (2650L) of water per year.
Water managers in at least 40 US states have warned to expect water shortages to occur over the next several years, its website states.
@realDonaldTrump Maybe you could consult with Cousin Eddie on how to solve the problem with the toilets flushing. pic.twitter.com/f5GNyzmW9C
— Terri Harris (@Harris85Terri) December 7, 2019
