The small community of Port Edward just south of Prince Rupert in northwest B.C. is giving out free toilets to its residents distributed on a first-come first serve basis.
The low-flush toilets have been sitting in Port Edward’s district office basement for the past two decades, leftover stock from a previous water conservation initiative in 2003.
“They’re taking up a lot of space down in our basement,” explained Tyson Schofield, the district’s chief administrative officer.
“I thought, ‘This is not a good use of these toilets. Let’s get them out for their intended purpose and let’s get them out to the residents what they were used for.'”
Schofield started his position with Port Edward, which had 470 residents as of the 2021 census, in June after moving from the City of Delta.
When he discovered the 35 toilets collecting dust in the office basement, he decided to revive the program and give them away for free.
On Thursday Aug. 27, the district announced on social media it would be giving away free water-reduction toilets using an image of Oprah Winfrey and the words, “You get a toilet! You get a toilet! You get a toilet!”
By the next day, 18 toilets had already been claimed by residents.
Teresa Andrews is a Port Edward resident who came to the district office to pick up a free toilet for herself and her sons’ houses.
“It’s a great thing for them to do for us,” she said. “It means that we’re upgrading our toilet without having to go to the hardware store and buy one.”
Schofield said he did some research into the original 2003 program, and found Port Edward had been reconstructing its water treatment plant at the time, and to get grant money for the project the community had to lower its water usage.
“From conversation with the community back then, it came up that we could install some low-flush toilets, so that’s why they were purchased,” he said.
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Schofield emphasized that the toilets are over 20 years old, so he can’t guarantee their quality.
But he said they recently installed two of them in the district office and they’ve been working well.
“They might not be the perfect toilet,” he said. “However, it’s always good to reduce the use of water. ”
