Who says government and industry can’t come together for resource management? They have been doing it in the bathroom for about 50 years.

Starting with toilets that flushed a torrent of seven gallons per flush, government and industry have successfully pioneered reductions of water consumption over the years: from seven to five gallons per flush (gpf), from five to 3.5 gpf and most recently, from 3.5 gpf to current U.S. standard of 1.6 gpf and now moving to 1.28 gpf for WaterSense program.

Along with other measures, such actions have actually reduced water demand in the United States, according to USGS data, even as the population has increased 30 percent. Popular Mechanics called water conservation one of the biggest environmental success stories of the past 30 years.