Raleigh residents have until January first to take advantage of the city's toilet upgrade reimbursement.
Raleigh has been giving out $100 rebates for efficient toilets since 2009. It was part of an effort to encourage water conservation following the severe drought in 2007 and 2008.
Ed Buchan is Raleigh's environmental coordinator. He says the city is ending the rebate program, because rate-payers have embraced the efficiency effort.
"So we have this business case analysis, we looked at the program, and we budgeted $500,000 a year for the rebates," Buchan says.
"And then you'd also have to look at lost revenue from water conservation and the significant amount of staff-administrative time involved in managing the program. That contrasted against a relatively minor amount of water savings that doesn't even show up from a pumpage standpoint."
Tiered water rates went into affect two years ago. Compared to other cities in the state and across the country, Raleigh residents use relatively little water. On average, it's 98 gallons per day.
