
The laundry industry is in a spin to save water - open-source-ux
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45711230
======
wnevets
how about washing machines that don't fall apart after a few years? Surely
that has a larger impact on the environment

[https://medium.com/@ryanfinlay/they-used-to-
last-50-years-c3...](https://medium.com/@ryanfinlay/they-used-to-
last-50-years-c3383ff28a8e)

~~~
secabeen
I've read that before, and he neglects to mention that appliances used to cost
a lot more. It's a bit hard to find pricing, but here's one reference I found
with fridges in 1968 at prices between $350-450:
[https://www.automatice.org/cgi-
bin/index.cgi?showdoc~657~~](https://www.automatice.org/cgi-
bin/index.cgi?showdoc~657~~)

In 2018 dollars, that's around $3000. You can get a low-end fridge today for
under $400. When a product's price hasn't changed over 50 years, that's
achieved by technology, and by cutting materials costs.

~~~
jbob2000
The price drop is probably because your fridge is built in China or Mexico
instead of a neighboring city.

That, and it’s made with more plastic. Compare the weight of an old fridge to
a new one and you can see where the savings came from.

------
ryandrake
I've found anything marketed as "water saving" is pretty much inferior crap to
be avoided. From dishwashers to laundry machines, to shower heads, to toilets.
I probably end up using more water with the "water saving" models due to
having to use them twice as much/long. Combined with the designed-to-fail
nature wnevets points out in his/her comment, I would steer clear of any
appliance built in the last 30 years or so, particularly anything marked as
"energy saving" or "water saving", which are both synonymous for junk.

~~~
devoply
I wonder why a startup doesn't popup to eat the lunch of all these shitty
products.

~~~
function_seven
Water saving stuff has gotten better and better, but there's only so much you
can do with less water. I don't know that a startup would be able to find
efficiencies that haven't already been wrung out by established players.

And they can't just produce toilets/showerheads/etc. that just use more water.
Regulations won't allow it.

~~~
PhasmaFelis
I used to work in a place where the toilet-flush levers went two ways: down
gets you a low-water flush for #1, up gets you a high-power one for #2. I
thought that was interesting. Dunno the regulatory situation around it,
though.

~~~
bradknowles
Dual-flush toilets have been used in Europe for many years. When we moved
there in 1998, we had an apartment that was kitted out with one that looked to
be more than a decade old at the time, and it worked fine.

I can confirm that modern Toto toilets are also a wonder of engineering. My
wife and I are planning on replacing all the old toilets in the house, now
that we have a Toto downstairs. Not only does it use much less water, it can
also handle way more ... material ... than anything else I have ever seen.
Worth the money at ten times the price.

And yes, you can get Toto toilets that also do the dual-flush.

