A: Yes, since there is no internal flushing conflict involved with this type of toilet, I'll make sure I call it a dual-flush toilet from now on -- and I'm sorry for the spelling error. However, when I wrote that column, I was fighting-mad about the amount of water being wasted in most of our homes across the country, and some part of my feelings must have slipped through.

I had just been notified by a reliable source that about 51% of American households are still using older toilets that use more than 1.6 gallons per flush. And, about 35% of all water used in an average home, goes right down the toilet. This is a staggering amount of water being wasted for no reason at all.

If you replace an old water-guzzling toilet with a new 1.3 GPF high-efficiency toilet (HET) you can expect to save about six to ten thousand gallons of water per year, per toilet! I know that most people are reluctant to change because they feel a lot more water is going to give them a stronger flush, and when 1.6 GPF toilets first came out in the '90s, that was the case.

However, modern HETs can actually deliver stronger flushes with less water and a dual-flush toilet is just such a toilet. Like the name says, a dual-flush works with two buttons. One button delivers a strong full flush at 1.6 gallons for big jobs, and the second button gives you a strong half flush option for small jobs.

Bottom line: Switching to a new high-efficiency dual-flush toilet will let you keep your full flush and you will save a lot of water.

And I'll duel it out with anyone on that point!