To the Editor:Seth Miller reports ("City Flushes Away Millions," Oct. '96 Tenant/Inquilino) that the Giuliani administration wasted more that $7 million giving landlords rebates under two "water conservation programs." More than $7 million? The Toilet Rebate Program in the five boroughs cost the city over $251 million!
Since their installation, the "low flow" toilets in my apartment are frequently clogged by solid waste. Three flushes accomplish nothing. A plunger must be used, followed by another flush!
I am a tenant in a big complex which underwent condo conversion. When I complained to the superintendent about the toilets, he suggested the drain might be blocked and told me to call Park West Management, to whom I pay my rent, to "repair" the malfunctioning toilets. The maintenance man found no "blockage" when he used a snake. And the problem continues! Clearly, the design of the toilet is at fault.
Water conservation might have been feasible without toilet replacement, had the Department of Environmental Protection EP opted to have the internals of the toilet tanks changed to decrease water usage. And the city might have been $251 million richer.
The condo management chose the toilets for the toilet replacement program. Isn't the condo management responsible for malfunctioning toilets?
It is absurd for residents in this complex to go back to the primitive practice of using a plunger to get rid of solid waste! How can tenants compel the condo management to alter/adapt the design of the toilets?
Sylvia Orans
Manhattan