Planet Optima
A 1920s Spanish Revival apartment building beside a 1960s apartment building on a Koreatown side street

Koreatown, Los Angeles

LADWP Free Toilet Replacement for Koreatown Apartment Buildings

LADWP funds new 0.9 GPF WaterSense toilets for Koreatown apartment buildings with 5 or more units, installation and haul-away included. Planet Optima handles every step, at no cost to the building owner.

Free building check. No cost and no commitment.

38,026
Koreatown apartments in 5+ unit buildings
$0
Cost to the building owner
Up to $300
LADWP pays per toilet

Koreatown Owners Pay $0 for New Toilets

LADWP pays up to $300 for each toilet replaced in a building with 5 or more units, and that covers the whole job. With one toilet per unit, a typical 15-unit Koreatown building gets up to $4,500 of new fixtures and labor, paid by LADWP instead of you.

Your cost

$0

LADWP pays the rebate to the water account holder, and we invoice only that amount after it arrives.

How the $300 rebate works

Planet Optima is an LADWP-authorized implementation partner with more than 500,000 fixtures replaced across Southern California, and we take on buildings as small as 5 units.

New toilets in every eligible unit

WaterSense-certified 0.9 GPF models that use about 44% less water per flush than the 1.6 GPF toilets they replace.

Professional installation

About 20 minutes per toilet and up to 50 a day, with angle stops, supply lines and flanges replaced as needed.

Haul-away of the old toilets

We remove and dispose of every old fixture, so nothing is left for your staff.

All the LADWP paperwork

Eligibility, the application, the inspection and the rebate. You sign one authorization form.

Tenant notices and scheduling

We notify tenants and plan the work around them, unit by unit.

Koreatown Has More Apartment Units Than Any LA Neighborhood

Koreatown has 38,026 apartment units in 1,563 buildings with 5 or more units built before 2014. That is more units than any other neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles. Half of those buildings went up in 1956 or earlier, and 98.7% were built before 1994, the year 1.6 gallons per flush became the federal standard for new toilets.

Koreatown’s buildings are also large. 653 of them have 20 or more units, and those buildings hold about three of every four apartments here. With crews installing up to 50 toilets a day, most of them are finished in one or two days.

If your building is one of them, LADWP will pay to replace its old toilets, and we will handle the work from the first form to the final inspection.

Year built

Before 1940 530 buildings
1940 to 1959 444 buildings
1960 to 1979 386 buildings
1980 to 1999 186 buildings
2000 to 2013 17 buildings

Building size

5 to 9 units 458 buildings
10 to 19 units 452 buildings
20 to 49 units 502 buildings
50 to 99 units 123 buildings
100+ units 28 buildings

Source: LA County Assessor 2026 roll, apartment parcels with 5 or more units built before 2014. Planet Optima analysis.

Does Your Koreatown Building Qualify?

  • Your building has 5 or more residential units
  • The water account is with LADWP
  • The toilets are rated 1.6 gallons per flush (GPF) or higher
  • You own or manage the building (the water account holder signs)
  • If your building meets all four criteria, the replacement costs you nothing.

Koreatown is part of the City of Los Angeles, and LADWP lists it among the communities it serves with water, so the territory test is already met. That leaves one test: the toilets. If your building went up before 2014 and has not had a full retrofit, it most likely still has toilets rated 1.6 GPF or higher.

Not sure what your toilets are rated? The rating is stamped on the bowl behind the seat, near the hinges. Or send us the address and we will check it with you.

A Typical Koreatown Building Saves $3,800 a Year

The typical Koreatown apartment building has 15 units. At July 2026 rates it pays about $11,000 a year in sewer charges alone, and about $13,000 from July 2028. New toilets cut the water charge and the sewer charge at the same time.

Building sizeSewer charge a year, July 2026Sewer charge a year, July 2028Saved a year with new toilets
15 units (typical here)$11,000$13,000$3,800
20 units$14,700$17,400$5,100
50 units$36,700$43,400$12,700
100 units$73,500$86,800$25,400

15 units (typical here)

Sewer charge a year, July 2026$11,000
Sewer charge a year, July 2028$13,000
Saved a year with new toilets$3,800

20 units

Sewer charge a year, July 2026$14,700
Sewer charge a year, July 2028$17,400
Saved a year with new toilets$5,100

50 units

Sewer charge a year, July 2026$36,700
Sewer charge a year, July 2028$43,400
Saved a year with new toilets$12,700

100 units

Sewer charge a year, July 2026$73,500
Sewer charge a year, July 2028$86,800
Saved a year with new toilets$25,400

Estimates use the same assumptions as our sewer rate guide: 6.5 HCF of water per unit a month, sewer billed on 93% of it, and new toilets saving about 12.5 HCF per unit a year at July 2026 water and sewer rates. Your building’s own bills decide the real number.

The new toilets, installation and haul-away cost you nothing, so the yearly savings start with your first bill after the work.

How the Toilet Rebate Program Works

From the first call to new toilets in every unit usually takes 4 to 5 weeks. You sign one authorization form. We handle the rest.

1

Building check

Send us your building details. We confirm the unit count, the LADWP water account and the toilet ratings, with no commitment.

2

Pre-inspection

An inspector checks the GPF stamp on a sample of toilets, counts the eligible ones and notes any plumbing issues. It takes 1 to 2 hours.

3

LADWP approval

We file the application through SoCal Water$mart. Approval takes about 10 business days.

4

Installation

We give tenants notice, then replace each toilet in about 20 minutes, up to 50 a day, and haul the old ones away.

5

Inspection and rebate

The program inspects the work and pays the rebate to the water account holder. We invoice only that amount, after it arrives.

LA Apartment Buildings We Have Already Retrofitted

Each of these projects ran through the same LADWP program, with Planet Optima handling every step at no cost to the owner.

Royal Garden Apartments, Van Nuys
Royal Garden Apartments at 7350 Kester Ave, Van Nuys

Van Nuys

Royal Garden Apartments

84-fixture retrofit across 56 units, 34% water reduction, 1,026,888 gallons saved annually.

Read case study
View All Case Studies  Every Planet Optima project, with the fixtures replaced and the water saved.

Frequently Asked Questions

It qualifies if it has 5 or more units, an LADWP water account and toilets rated 1.6 GPF or higher. Koreatown is in the City of Los Angeles, so LADWP supplies its water. Of the 1,563 apartment buildings with 5 or more units built in Koreatown before 2014, 98.7% went up before 1994, so many still have the toilets the program replaces.

Yes. LADWP pays up to $300 per toilet, which covers the new fixture, installation and haul-away. The program pays that rebate to the water account holder, and Planet Optima invoices only that amount after it arrives, so the owner pays nothing up front and comes out even.

A typical 15-unit Koreatown building saves about $3,800 a year on water and sewer at July 2026 rates. A 100-unit building saves about $25,400 a year. Sewer rates rise again in July 2027 and July 2028, so the savings grow too.

About 4 to 5 weeks from the first call to finished work, and LADWP approval takes about 10 business days of that. The installation itself is fast: about 20 minutes per toilet and up to 50 toilets a day, so a typical 15-unit Koreatown building is done in one day.

We replace only the toilets still rated 1.6 GPF or higher, and the pre-inspection counts them. Buildings that joined an earlier MWD or LADWP program can often take part again for the units that still have older toilets.

Very little. We give tenants notice first, each toilet takes about 20 minutes, and crews work unit by unit, so every bathroom is back in use the same day.

WaterSense-certified, MaP-tested high-efficiency toilets rated at 0.9 GPF or lower. They flush as well as or better than the 1.6 GPF models they replace, and they are made to work with older multifamily plumbing, including cast-iron drain lines.

No. The water account holder, usually the owner or the property manager, signs the authorization form. Tenants can pass this page to their landlord or manager, and we will take it from there.

Yes. We replace toilets in apartment buildings with 5 or more units anywhere LADWP supplies the water, including Westlake, Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire, East Hollywood and Pico-Union.

See all program questions in the complete guide

What Our Clients Say

“Working with Planet Optima is like a breath of fresh air! Professional and thorough, the team has navigated multiple large scale and complex projects for HDS with ease. Timely communication and a true professional partner. I recommend highly and will be partnering with them again without hesitation!”
Steve Christman
Sales Manager, HD Supply
“Once I completed the walk with Planet Optima I felt at ease and confident this project would be handled professionally. They did a complete and thorough job, were very attentive to all the residents, and kept their area clean and neat throughout the project.”
Kerwyn
Decron Properties
“Planet Optima made the entire process seamless. From the initial assessment to the final installation, they handled everything professionally and on schedule. Our tenants experienced minimal disruption, and the savings on our water bill were immediate.”
Conor O.
MDT Properties

Trusted by Southern California's largest multifamily owners and managers

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  • HD Supply
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Find out which rebates your building qualifies for

Send us your building details. We’ll review them and contact you about the programs your property may qualify for.

Water Conservation
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Building Assessments & Audits

Fill out the form to the right to check your building’s eligibility.

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