Bill would add bidets in state prison, jail cells by 2015
By Jeff ‘Paco’ Doyle
PACOVILLA
March 8, 2013
SACRAMENTO -- In the aftermath of prison realignment, the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation (CDCR) no longer holds the dubious distinction of being the largest prison system in the nation. If Senator Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, has his way, the corrections agency will lose bragging rights as #1 in yet another realm - CDCR is California’s single largest consumer of toilet tissue and Leno wants to put an end to it.
The Los Angeles Times reports that SB-141, “The Correctional Conservation and Sanitation Act of 2013″ would require CDCR and all county jails to install “corrections industry approved toilets equipped with bidet sanitary water heads” by the end of fiscal year 2015. If enacted, affected agencies would be prohibited from issuing toilet paper altogether. ”In lieu of toilet tissue, inmates housed in cells or dormitories equipped under this section shall be issued cotton or hemp washcloths for drying purposes,” the bill states.
“From an environmental and water conservation standpoint, toilet paper is enemy number one,” Leno stated at a Capitol Rotunda news conference late Thursday afternoon. ”Treating effluent to remove paper solids costs 3 times as much as treating paper free waste-water.”
“At the same time, industry studies report toilet paper users produce 20 to 40% more flushes, and water use, versus users of a bidet,” the senator said.
Leno displayed a picture of a stainless steel combination bidet-toilet approved by the American Correctional Association, which sets and monitors U.S. prison and jail standards. “These units cost approximately $20 more than the standard cell toilet and will eventually pay for themselves in toilet paper savings, decreased water treatment costs and increasing water conservation,” Leno added.
Records obtained through the State Controller’s Office show the agency approved CDCR’s purchase of $9.4 million in toilet paper for fiscal year 2010, reportedly the most recent data available. Leno claims that figure “represents over 150 billion cubic yards of used tissue” in the state’s water treatment plants.
CDCR Deputy Press Secretary Terry Thornton told The Times the prison agency was “only recently apprised of the proposed law and has no official position at this time.”
“Our commitment to making CDCR green includes improving sanitation and water conservation for the benefit of all taxpayers,” Thornton added. “If bidets will be as beneficial as Senator Leno says, it is fully consistent with our mission statement and organizational values to install them as soon as the law allows.”
The bill is expected to pass both houses of the legislature. Despite numerous inquires from The Times, The Governor’s Office has not responded.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: If you’re planning to rush out and buy some stock in bidet manufacturers, hold your horses. If you haven’t figured it out by now, Paco was pulling our chains with a humorous parody.
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