The World Ditched Wasteful Toilets, the US Stayed Behind
US toilets use far more water than many of their global counterparts.
US toilets use far more water than many of their global counterparts. President Donald Trump is pushing to loosen water pressure standards that critics say would increase waste.If you're flushing a toilet in the US, you're probably accustomed to that characteristic whoosh as a jet of water fills the bowl and then siphons down the contents with a dramatic gulp.
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In Europe, on the other hand, the process looks much different. There's almost always an option for a lighter or stronger flush, depending on what you need. And the water doesn't suction, but instead simply shoves the waste down. For a true contrast, in Germany and the Netherlands, sometimes the waste lands on a ceramic shelf that sits directly above a pool of water.
All this potty talk isn't just impolite dinner table conversation. How our toilets flush has significant ramifications for water supply. It's an increasingly urgent issue in the US as climate change worsens drought, and many communities confront water scarcity across the country, particularly in the West.
The nation's unique siphon design once required gallons of water with each flush to create the suction effect. But in 1992, a landmark water efficiency law overhauled US plumbing, restricting water use in new toilets. That saved an estimated 18.2 trillion gallons (68.9 trillion liters) over two decades.
President Donald Trump is now pushing to dismantle the regulation. Though environmental engineers say such a move would run counter to the action needed to shore up the country's water supply.
"It took us so long to actually make a small dent on the American mindset of saving water," Samuel Sandoval Solis, a water resources expert at the University of California, Davis, told DW. He sees the proposal as a "backwards" move.
What is Trump proposing?
Trump wants to "rescind useless water pressure standards" that he views as "burdensome."
Metin Duran, an environmental engineer at Villanova University in Pennsylvania says it's part of a longstanding American tradition of opposing environmental governance.
"Culturally, people in the US just don't like regulations," said Duran. "In Europe, people are more open to these types of regulations if it's for the greater good," he added.
In May, the Trump administration released a directive pausing enforcement of the toilet water limits in the 1992 water efficiency law. He also recommended Congress try to repeal the law, which would create a more permanent change, outlasting any one president.
House Republicans took up the cause, passing the colorfully named "Don't Mess With My Home Appliances Act," which would make it easier for the Department of Energy to weaken energy conservation standards. It's unlikely to pass the Senate.
Trump has been complaining about weak toilets and showerheads for years, promising to "make showers great again" and do away with home energy standards.
"People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once," he said in 2019. "You go into a new building or a new house or a new home and you don't get water, you can't wash your hands practically, there's so little water [that] comes out of the faucet."
Engineering experts say it's an outdated complaint. Though toilet redesign in the 1990s led to public outcry about "low flow," things have come a long way since.
"When the president complains about his toilets not flushing well — that's a thing of the past. Maybe there's some older toilets that didn't perform well a long time ago. It's possible. But today's toilets go through rigorous testing," Burke said.
Where today's toilets are outdated
Nonetheless, toilets in the US still use a lot of water. The 1992 law mandated that any newly installed toilet use only 1.6 gallons per flush. In Europe, that's the standard for a stronger flush, but many toilets across the continent also offer a dual-flush option with less than a gallon per flush for liquid waste. Dual flush never really took off in the US, despite being a water-efficient option.
Plus, older wasteful models are still commonplace across the country. More than one in five toilets still use 3.5 gallons per flush or more, according to a 2019 study from the trade group Plumbing Manufacturers International (PMI). Some use a whopping 5 gallons or more if they were manufactured before 1980.
In drought-stricken California, PMI approximates some 2.4 million of these so-called legacy toilets are still in use — replacing them with more efficient models could save the state 14.1 billion gallons of water.
With California facing the prospect of future megadroughts, ongoing shortages in the Colorado River, and the country's two largest reservoirs at about one-third of their normal capacity, the state is looking to save water wherever it can.
"What the Trump administration is proposing is really in direct conflict with the challenges that many communities across the United States are facing with maintaining reliable, affordable water supplies," Burke said.
Edited by: Jennifer Collins, Sarah Steffen
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 14, 2026 02:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).