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The Controllable Flush/Picklopolis
by April Streeter - 5.1.05
The Controllable Flush
What it is: Toilet handle cuts water use per flush to 1.5 gallons
Who makes it: Athena CFC Inc.
Where it’s made: Hillsboro, Ore.
For more information: www.controllableflush.com
Drought still threatens, and sales of rain barrels are uncommonly brisk
in the Northwest. It’s the perfect opportunity, said Athena CFC
marketing director Dan Kaminskis, to re-launch a handy piece of
hardware than can cut in half the water a household uses for flushing. The Controllable Flush is a replacement flusher for toilets built
before 1993 with a 3.5, 5, or 7 gallon flushing capacity. The new
flusher has a pivot connected to the inside of the tank that helps lift
the tank flap just halfway, allowing only 1.5 gallons of water to
whoosh into each flush. The flusher also gives flushees the option to
use their tank’s full flushing capacity by lifting the lever up instead
of depressing it. Athena hasn’t aggressively tried to promote or seek retail
distribution for the flusher, which is sold on the Internet for $29.95.
And newer toilets abiding by a rule that limits tank size to 1.6
gallons can’t take advantage of The Controllable Flusher. But Kaminskis said drought has renewed interest for
water-saving techniques, and millions of the older, larger tanks still
lurk in many cities. The Metropolitan Water Districts of Southern
California, a conglomerate of water utilities, recently paid for
independent research which concluded The Controllable Flusher could
save the average two-person household 15,000 gallons of water and
reduce water bills by about $75 annually.  Picklopolis
What it is: Pickled organic cucumbers, peppers, beans
Who makes it: Kay Weckerling and her daughter, Lilly; Dave & Barb Barber
Where it’s made: Portland
For more information: www.picklopolis.com
Big food processors in Washington and Oregon may be in trouble, but
last summer farmers market vendor Kay Weckerling had trouble of a
different sort: too many peppers maturing under the August sun. It was
either put up the peppers or watch them rot. Weckerling knew little about canning, but she’d earlier met
restaurateur Dave Barber of Portland’s Three Square Grill and knew he
had a knack for pickling. She brought him peppers — lots of peppers —
and he started pickling them in the restaurant’s kitchen.
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