A history of ULF toilets shows how the greenies and congresscreatures make the industry jump through moving hoops.
"They" were the environmental zealots. It was October 1988, and they were prominent among the 130 people - including this reporter - attending a conference in Cherry Hill, N.J., sponsored by the Delaware River Basin Commission, a water resource agency with jurisdiction over a large swatch of the Mid-Atlantic region. Interested parties had gathered to debate the wisdom of legislation mandating ultra-low flush toilets. ULF laws had been enacted in scattered municipalities around the country, and Massachusetts recently had become the first to commit to such restrictions statewide. Federal legislation was in an early stage of development.