The City of Brownwood received a generous gift on Wednesday from Kohler Co., one of the city’s major manufacturing plants, in the form of new toilets and supplies needed to update the city’s restrooms.
Brownwood and other nearby communities are in the middle of a 7 year drought, with lake levels declining since 2007 and continuing to drop even as residents have been faced with water restrictions that have been in place for three years.
For Kohler Human Resource Specialist Rachel Tobin, the Kohler plant being in the heart of this drought plagued area was an opportunity to use its expertise as a plumbing company to serve as a positive environmental steward in the community.
“We live and work in Brownwood and we make high-efficiency fixtures for water conservation. Brownwood has a water conservation need, so I started talking to the city about what we could do,” Tobin said.
After approximately one year, Tobin’s idea has come full circle, working with Kohler and the community to retrofit the Lyric’s 100-year-old performing arts theatre with high-efficiency products, as well as The ARK Domestic Violence Shelter, and bring the “Trust the Flush” Kohler Toilet bus to the city so residents could see and interact with Kohler low-flow products with their own eyes.
Brownwood and the surrounding area have a high percentage of the old 3 and 5 gallon tank fixtures that if switched out to 1.28 gallon flush tank would compliment current water conservation efforts. The most recent of which, this donation of high-efficiency fixtures to upgrade city hall restrooms, will be installed in the coming months.
The hope is that this particular project will serve as a catalyst for the city to retrofit other city buildings with more conservative fixtures. This, in turn, could lead to greater exposure to the community about these water-saving products and encourage residents to explore these options for their own home and business water conservation.
“This issue affects everyone, residents and businesses,” Tobin said. “To me, Kohler benefits from this because we’re partnering with the community on something that is so important to our associates and their families and the community. We’re spreading the message and really trying to get the momentum going on high-efficiency products and water conservation.”
Pictured above are Kohler and City officials with the recently delivered boxes of toilets and plumbing supplies needed to complete the update of restrooms at City Hall.
