The Caroma Profile 5 Toilet Suite was the first toilet suite in Australia to achieve a 5 star WELS rating and has proved popular around Australia’s states and the rest of the world, but until recently it has been banned in Queensland by the Department of Infrastructure and Planning due to an interpretation of the Plumbing and Drainage Act.
“It is a rather unusual technicality, as despite the ban in Queensland, the product was allowed around the rest of Australia... We are extremely pleased that the ban has now been lifted” explained Mr Steve McDonald, Caroma State Manager for Queensland. The suites were banned in 2009, two years after their release, because Queensland’s plumbing code did not permit usage of grey water for the purpose of flushing. Following extensive testing the legislature has reversed its decision.
Mr McDonald adds “Both homeowners and the plumbing industry will be pleased to know the product is available on the market again and is allowed for use in residential applications,” The water efficient device is permitted for installation in 1a, 2 and 4 buildings.
The innovative Caroma Profile 5 Toilet Suite with integrated hand basin provides an efficient system for recycling bathroom water. The efficient all-in-one toilet and hand wash system was designed to reduce total bathroom water usage and was successfully launched in 2007 at the height of the Queensland drought.
The water saving toilet suite consists of a hand wash basin sitting on top of a cistern. Once flushed the cistern water supply is diverted to the spout of the hand basin for washing. The used hand wash water is then returned to the cistern for future toilet flushing.
The water saving technology utilised by the Coroma Profile 5 Toilet Suite was validated as fit for its purpose after 9 months of independent testing carried out at the University of New South Wales. Testing revealed the high water saving capabilities of the system and demonstrated that there is no increased risk to health from washing hands with water from the integrated cistern than from a separate basin.
