Low flow toilets...help or hype?

[Fountain79]

While not a major debate, I was curious if people had heard anything of this debate. It appears that there is some argument that standard low flow toilets do little to save water as person will have to flush more to get rid of the same amount of "stuff". I know there are some air pressure toilets that use less water and are very powerful, has anyone ever heard of this argument? Or am I just full of crap?(sorry couldn't resist)

[Connie_Corleone]

1. I don't know if it saves water, but I don't like them.

You have to flush at least twice. We have them at work.

[Kali]

25. How old are they?

I understand they have been much improved since the first models.

Also even if you have to flush twice on brown, its gotta save on yellow.

[susanna]

82. That's the strange thing...

I thought that too, but my friend who has them says it's a crapshoot (no pun intended). Her words, verbatim: "Sometimes you pee and they back up on you." So...

I live in an antique house with non-lo-flow toilets and have never had a backup (going on 12 years). She says she has had 10 since moving into her new house - two months ago.

That kinda sucks, IMHO.

[Kali]

84. I hope somebody that actually knows something will chime in

but it MIGHT be the line out rather than the toilet for your friend. This winter we helped some freinds put in a septic tank in a new house and there was MUCH manly "engineer" type discussion about the slope of the pipe from the house to the tank. Like if it is too flat nothing will move (duh) but also if too steep strange things happen - like "solids" get left behind if the water flows too fast??? It didn't sound logical to me but what do I know?

[Tesha]

95. 1/4" per foot is the gold standard for drain sloping.

And for precisely the reasons you cited.

Tesha

[Gabi Hayes]

2. stagger your stool

seriesly!1!

don't let them get so hugh

[MSgt213]

6. LoL Stagger your stool. Won't skid marks get totally out of control?

[Gabi Hayes]

30. uhh...Depends

[sheelz]

22. LOL

squeeze and pinch :hurts:

[JVS]

63. NO MEDICAL ADVICE ON DU!

Please!

[Canuckistanian]

109. Pinch a smaller loaf?

LOL, I'll give it a whirl... so to speak.
:rofl:

[uppityperson]

3. ours has to be flushed twice to clear feces which is a pain

we don't flush each time we urinate though.

[SoCalDem]

10. My son's fiancee saw a sign in the bathrooms in Australia

that freaked her out..

"If it's brown, flush it down...If it's yellow, let it mellow"..

[Caoimhe]

16. omg that's hilarious

the only one I've seen is one my mom has over her toilet that says

If you sprinkle
When you tinkle
Please be neat
And wipe the seat

and my uncle thought it extremely vulgar. HAHA! I wish I could see his face after reading the one your future daughter-in-law saw!

[Kali]

27. that is an OLD motto

around here

[LiberalPartisan]

59. It's an old saying in New England too....n/t

[nolabels]

87. And the job isn't done till the paper work finished

http://radio.weblogs.com/0123486/2006/01/13.html

[OffWithTheirHeads]

34. That is an old 1970's haiku

from Marin county during a supposed drought in the eary 70's.

The bottom line is that corporations are now trying to control water. If they succeed, gas will become irrelevant. You will pay so much for water that gas will be a bargain! Long live the capatilist profit motive!

[alfredo]

80. We are fighting RWE right now over local ownership.

They are for sale, but they don't want to sell to the city. (Lexington Ky) We're targeting the city council. A majority got bought off by the water company. They promptly took condemnation off the table, taking away our best bargaining chip. The matter is before the Ky Supreme court, but the court is republican controlled. So we have to win at the ballot box so we can have the bargaining power of condemnation.


We also want to let potential buyers, you buy our water, and you are into a long ugly fight. Is it really worth it to buy a problem like we will be?

[gollygee]

35. The new toilets there have "full flushes" and "half flushes"

there's like a fully darkened circle which is for a full flush, and a darkened semi circle for a half flush. So if it's just pee, you half flush it.

[Scout1071]

36. Pretty common actually!

I live by myself, so I sometimes follow that rule. I don't think it's as gross with single living (unless I have guests), but with others I can't stand that rule!

[LostinVA]

41. That's what we do -- the SO and I both grew up with wells

So, we don't flush if we just pee. And, we take semi-Navy showers (turn water off whilst shaving legs, letting condition er condition, etc.). The low-flow toilets suck -- you have to flush them 1-3 times.

[Late Slip]

61. That line was also in "Meet the Fokkers" - I think Streisand said it. CYBI

[Fountain79]

71. correction... Hoffman n/t

[donco6]

67. Oh yeah.

India, too. In English no less.

[tenshi816]

91. I saw one in California years ago that said:

"Don't flush unless you have a solid reason."

[Demit]

92. "In this land of sun and fun, we only flush for

number one." Can't remember if I saw that in Australia or the British Virgin Islands, but I always thought it was cute.

[JVS]

103. Ummm, that rhyme is extremely bad advice!

[Demit]

114. Oops, I got it wrong! I didn't realize. Replace "only" with "seldom" LOL!

It was a long time ago.

[sharp_stick]

4. The old ones we had sucked.

We had to double flush at least half the time, even toilet paper wouldn't go down sometimes. Our newer ones though are great, they are fairly new (3 years or so) and we've never had to plunge.

[AirmensMom]

5. They were put in our house in 1994 and were really bad.

You had to flush several times and they still got clogged up. But they've come a long way since then. We put all new toilets in the house in 2002 and they are fine -- no double flushing or clogging. So, it appears the toilet makers just didn't have their act together at first. The air pressure toilets are good, but more expensive to maintain and repair. My mom and sister have them, mostly b/c their water pressure is so low.

[Maddy McCall]

7. four flushers.

[femmedem]

53. But...but..real liberals don't use low flow toilets!

Real liberals run to the bathroom and flush every time they fart.:)

[Fountain79]

70. I thought real liberals enjoyed the smell of their own farts....

-insert South Park reference.

[BooScout]

8. Have you been watching King of the Hill?

Hank was just campaigning about that issue on an episode I watched lately. Kid ya not. :D

[Fountain79]

19. I saw that episode a long time ago, but I had ...

already heard about this argument.

[BooScout]

28. I just saw it last week......

Things take a while to catch up to me. I'm in the UK so we have to wait.

For the record, I hate the things.

[katty]

9. We have had low flow in my city in CA for many years-they do

save water-and we don't have to 'flush more'.

[TheCowsCameHome]

11. RWingers hate them - because they're so full of s**t anyway.......

[Caoimhe]

12. Not worth it

if you have to flush twice, not only is it embarrassing (if someone is waiting or within earshot) but it wastes more water than a regular toilet. My experience is.. keep a plunger handy, and always flush twice with one of those toilets. Stuff can look like it flushed but cleverly hide, only to erupt on the next person.

[Connie_Corleone]

17. And gawd help you if you're the next person.

Ugh!!

[Ecumenist]

13. I HATE THEM...

They clog with a soft spring breeze, so help me God. There has to be a better choice..

[EVDebs]

14. No flow toilets, like Clivus Multrum's should be legalized nationally

in order to save both money and the ecology. Funny how state parks and the C K Choi building (Univ of British Columbia, Vancouver) can use them but a person just can't go out and buy one. Restraint of trade lawsuit coming ?

www.clivusmultrum.com/

Also, you may wish to check out a potential source of power

Human Feces Powers Rwandan Prison
http://www.wired.com/news/planet/0,2782,68127,00.html

[Yollam]

15. Don't know about toilets, but I hate the lo-flo shower heads...

I'd rather have a super-short shower under a real shower head than have to stand FOREVER under one of those horrible little mist-spray things. You about freeze to death.

I have always kept a 2 liter bottle of water in the toilet tank to conserve water though, and it doesn't affect flushing ability.

[uppityperson]

21. tell me about it. It is an ongoing discussion in our house.

I have tried explaining to MrUP that I WANT MORE WATER. He likes to stand in the shower for 30 minutes and can't get hold of the idea that he can just not turn the water on all the way and it will still work (with a non-low flow showerhead).

[Caoimhe]

23. Have you seen those massive sunflower sized shower heads?

They look luxurious, but it can't be a good water saver. I have a water saver shower head and I guess I just got used to it. My dad once offered to "fix" it for me but I said why bother? I don't mind it. You see, *HE* minded it, but he only visits long enough to shower maybe once every two years... so.. I didn't want to risk him messing with my pipes :)

[justice1]

33. We installed one in our house.

We had one from the 70's that had great water pressure. We purchased the sunflower type and we all complained at first, but now we are used to it. Prior to the new shower head, we thought we needed a larger water heater.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

44. I tried to "fix" mine the other day...

just moved in, and I hate that it takes 3 times longer to rinse my hair. Used to be you could just unscrew the head and take the plastic piece out that limits the flow. Not this one, it's all one metal piece. Now I have to go out and get a new one, then I'll be able to cut my shower time in half.

[TankLV]

73. Just open up the head and remove the little plastic "ring" that reduces

water flow. I do it all the time - works great!

Waste MUCH more water with the "restrictors".

I'd also rather have a short super great shower than being piddled on FOREVER!

[TheCowsCameHome]

18. I thought I heard the newer ones were improved over the early styles

Any truth to that? We were considering changing over, too.............

[evlbstrd]

20. Early models were problematic.

I just installed two in my house, replacing old "full-flow" toilets. I have better flushage now than I did before.

[Yollam]

24. They have a neat idea here in Japan.

There is a little sink on top of the toilet tank, so after you flush, water comes out of a spigot, and you can wash your hands in the water before it goes into the tank.

[eleny]

26. A cold water hand wash?

I'm not a fan of cold water hand washings after using the toidy. And how long does the water flow last? This doesn't look easy to use, either. I mean you have to reach over the bowl to use it.

[Kali]

31. yeah but great for all those "ladies"

who consider running their fingertips under the faucet a hand washing! :7

[Yollam]

32. Are you joking?

Look, if you're that spoiled, I mean, you must be one of those people who takes a Segway from their front door to the car. Unless you are very tiny, you can reach over the bowl to hand-wash. My 8 year old son uses it. As for cold water, I have never had the patience for the warm water to kick in when washing my hands anyway. I wash and get the heck outta there. Besides, this thing is more for a quick rinse after number one. After number two, I'd go to a sink that has a bar of soap, for sure...

[eleny]

40. Your habits are not mine. Or let me put it this way: E-w-w-w-w-w!

[Yollam]

43. ???

Whatever. I pretty much consider myself to be a very clean person. At least I'm not one of those who says "if it's yellow, let it mellow." :puke:

[TankLV]

74. What a great idea! I'm an Architect and I haven't seen these yet!

Was one of the first to get the literature on those "Toto" brand heat/wash/rinse/powder/puff/dry/perfume types.

But this has it beat!

[JVS]

104. Is there anything that the Japanese can't do with a toilet?

[TNDemo]

29. We have a dual flush toilet.

Flush up for yellow, down for brown. That way it takes a small amount of water to get rid of pee but gives a big gush to get the big daddies down minus the skid marks. Saves a lot of water.

[Scout1071]

38. Perfect!

Great idea.

[Caoimhe]

39. your choice of words is quite hilarious lol

why is it that us adults sometimes can't help with the juvenile potty humor?

[susanna]

83. Because sh*t happens? n/t

[eleny]

42. We have one of those and it's terrific

I wanted to get another one recently and found them to be very pricey. The one we got was a spcial purchase of Home Depot's. It cost about $67. One of our best plumbing purchases.

[LostinVA]

46. VERY excellent idea! How much was it?

[TNDemo]

60. Well, zero for us.

My husband is an engineer and LEED certified so a lot of the energy efficient and green vendors will be nice and let us "try" their products so he will specify them. I think this one is like $600 retail - yikes. We would never own one if we had to buy it at that price!

[LostinVA]

94. Yikes! If they came down, I would get one for sure

[12345]

93. me too. a Caroma. it's the best.

our plumber told us that the orifice is about twice the size of a conventional toilet, which prevents it from clogging. uses 0.8 gpf or 1.6. you don't even need to use the 1.6 option.

[A Simple Game]

37. I used to work in a place that had a air pressure toilet.

You didn't want to be near it when you flushed it, it blew liquid over five feet away when it flushed.

May have just been out of adjustment, but I don't think it would have flushed well with less pressure.

[Jose Diablo]

45. You'd be surprised how much water can be saved

just putting a brick in the tank.

Fresh water, especially out west in like NM and AZ is gonna be the thing in the future. If people keep moving there the water issues can only get worse.

[Kali]

51. for sure - we need to save all the water we can for the golf courses

its not IF people keep movig here, they are ALREADY here. This is already unsustainable.

[NuttyFluffers]

86. better off putting a 2-liter instead of a brick.

oh, and fill the 2-liter with good potable water. tie the top tight and stand it upright on the side of the tank. usually the reservoir rarely reaches the 2-liter bottle's top. that way if there's any disaster you have spare drinkable water. live in california, earthquake country, and previously in the desert, spare water during emergencies is no joke.

another good one is 2 2-liter bottles filled with drinkable water put in the freezer. it makes a big ice cube, so when the power goes out in a disaster you have enough ice to keep your perishables just a bit longer. and when it melts you have more water.

save your brick for edging your garden. :D

[BlueCaliDem]

89. Or an empty milk gallon container filled with water (cleaned of course!)..

...which you set in the water reservoir.

It saves a gallon of water each flush AND you don't lose any flush power.

It also helps to use a strong acid bowl cleaner once a month to ensure the water holes under the rim of the inside of the bowl is cleared of any sediment that can prohibit a powerful flush.

[BlueCaliDem]

90. So...anyone interested in ensuring a 100% roach-free home for life?

I've "invented" this method that can rid your home/apartment/abode of roaches even if your neighbors are infested with them!

Some 8 years ago, we used to live in an apartment complex where it was common to have roaches in every single apartment---but not ours!

After telling my friend (who still lives there and who's been struggling with getting rid of her roaches since, forever, she used my method, and within 45 days (her apartment was horribly infested since she had neighbors on all sides!) for the first time in her life, they are roach free!

It's really inexpensive and quite easy.

Let me know if you're interested!

[Kali]

100. I'll bite...

what is it?

[BlueCaliDem]

113. Here it is...

I've gotten this idea when I saw a documentary on Discovery Channel regarding the roach problem in London, England.

Apparently, roaches are able to hold their breath for up to three hours; are excellent swimmers, and can survive without food up to three weeks!

Roaches also, can survive quite comfortably on a flake of human skin which is abundant in every place people walk through (they say that 90% of our household dust consists of shed human skin), but roaches can even survive on the tiniest piece of soap. Real survivors.

The reason why I gave this bit of info is because it's a myth that roaches only infest places that are not sanitary. Obviously, this isn't true, although, naturally, having an unsanitary home is never a good idea, but sometimes it can't be helped.

However, bug sprays are nasty, expensive, and they're generally poisonous to us, as well as our pets, so I never opt to use them, and they're temporary remedies that cause more grief than they're worth.

So this is what I've discovered that has kept us roach-free in our apartment, the condo we once rented (now that one was so infested, roaches were in the dishwasher!), and the house we currently live in. It's helped my sister in Tennessee, and my friends here in California.

It really works!

In order to get rid of an existing roach problem, and to ensure you never have them EVER again, you need a three-prong attack.

This 100% fail-proof method will take about 30-45 days before you're 100% roach-free.

You need to get to the nest (hidden safely in walls); you need to get to the ones creeping through our homes/restaurants/etc.; and you need to ensure there'll be no future infestations from "outside"---which come into our home via brown paper grocery bags, vacation suitcases and---get this!---our drains!

That's right! Roaches enter our homes predominantly via our sewer system! If your sewer system is connected to a main sewer, and your neighbors have a roach infestation, you'll have it too. I saw this in that documentary since roaches are subtropical creatures that can't survive in the cold, and freezing London weather yet homes in London are literally infested with these things. The reason was, because roaches infest our sewer system where there is abundant food (what we flush through our pipes everyday); it's dark and warm. However, sometimes it'll get crowded, and roaches are cannibals and when it gets too full down there, they'll climb up the pipes and swim to greener pastures.

However, no matter how resilient these things are, they're no match for ammonia (works great on wasps as well!).

So, what you'll need to buy is: 1 bottle of pure Ammonia, and those roach traps that have roaches eat of the poisonous "food" inside and they take it back to their nests. I used the Gold Label Black Flag stickie traps and stuck these everywhere I saw the roaches; usually under sinks; behind drawers, etc.
Buy as many as you need of these.

Now, these traps will have the "visible" roaches take the bait, then they take the "food" to the nest where they allow their young to feed, and these traps will take care of your existing roach infestation.

To stop other roaches from entering your home, don't opt for grocery store paper bags. Opt for plastic (they hate plastic!), and throw out your newspapers, etc where they can hide.

That very first night, when you're sure no one is going to do the dishes, or laundry, or shower, pour ammonia pure into all drains in your home (about 1/4 cup). Ammonia will settle in the pipes, and stop invading roaches from swimming up your pipes and into your home.

Naturally, if you have a second/third floor, do the drains upstairs first. In the first week, you'll need to do all the drains on all floors every night. After the first week, you only have to do the drains downstairs, and can omit the upstairs drains.

It's important you allow the ammonia to sit in the drains the entire night without having it flushed out.

The third step is, add a bit of ammonia in your 409, or homemade household cleaner, and mop water. Each time you use this all-purpose cleaner/ammonia concoction on your counters, in your bathrooms, toilets, floors, etc., you'll be ensuring your drains of a steady bit of ammonia each time.

When your roach-prob is over (usually within 30-45 days), you only need to pour a little ammonia into the drains whenever you see a roach in your tub or sink, but it's important you make sure that the ammonia remains undisturbed in your drains the entire night.

If you do the above, your home/restaurant/abode will be free of roaches forever!

[tech3149]

47. depends on the design

My parents have had a Toto toilet for the last five years and it does the job (even with ten people and one bathroom). The only comparable water saver is the manual dishwasher (plus it's fun to keep the dinner conversation going while washing and drying).

[Shipwack]

48. The real problem is that american made toilets suck...

... or maybe they don't suck enough. ;)

I was overseas in the Middle East (Bahrain) recently, and all the toilets there were low flush and I did not once have a problem with either blockage, or having to flush twice. I forget the exact manufacturer, but it wasn't American Standard...

[Fountain79]

65. I'll take American toilets over German...

I'm sorry but my one experience with one was not pleasant...

[donco6]

66. Ha! I think I know what you mean.

OK, so what the hell were they thinking there? I mean, there's this PLATFORM for the stuff to . . . land on when it . . . drops. And then you flush. And flush. And flush.

Normally, I'd say German engineering is top-knotch, but . . . ugh.

[Fountain79]

69. Yeah....

I gagged rather horribly the first time. I read somewhere that it is based on the idea that you should be able to inspect anything before it get in the water. I really hope Ireland didn't follow this design I am going there this summer.

[Kellanved]

105. nah

That's so 1985; hardly any of those left.

[JVS]

108. The new ones suck!

[Kellanved]

110. Not enough

They back up rather easily.

[JVS]

111. Yeah, it's time to go back to the platform design

[Kellanved]

112. Good thing: there's an educational video for everything

http://www.planet-wissen.de/pw/realpopup_dsl,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,portraet_klotypen_h.rm,,,.html

[TankLV]

76. They ALL gotta beat those "holes in the floor" that they use in Japan!

EWEW!

Hard on the knees, too!

[Kali]

81. Middle East too

that or they have a western toilet witha little metal butt washer right at the back of the seat that rinses ith cold water.

[JVS]

106. My German toilet ruled! Unless you don't like the "observation deck"

But as far as flow is concerned, the handle let you control it and it never met a bowel movement it couldn't handle

[OhioNerd]

49. I have a toilet with the Champion Flush System.

I have a toilet with the Champion Flush System. When I first got it I thought something was wrong because it just uses this tiny bit of water and the flush is over in like one second. Literally. Actually. One second. I'm serious. I'm really trying to impress this on you. One second. Really.

So I thought it was broken. I call the factory and ask what's up. "It's normal.". I tweaked the settings again. Got the flush up to 1.1 seconds.

$260 fucking dollars.





I was bummed.



So the next morning, it was time to give the damned thing a stress test. Wasn't looking forward to this, but if push came to shove I could always pour 5 gallons of hot water in there, right?

So I get up. look down and hit that handle.


Have you seen the Kawoosh from that Stargate movie or the TV series based on it?


For those of you who haven't, I'll sum it up: You do NOT want to be in the way of the Kawoosh. Unless you are looking for a rather definitive form of suicide. You're there, then the Kawoosh is there, then nothing is there.


That's what this toilet is like.

It took like a MONTH to stop watching it flush. It was fucking spellbinding.


So yeah man, those low flow toilets are cool.

[KyuzoGator]

50. My low-flow toilets simply don't get the job done.

I find myself flushing two or three times to get everything down. Every plumber I know absolutely hates them.

[eleny]

52. The toilet paper poll

The choice of toilet paper brand can make a big difference, too. Looks like Charmin Ultra 2-Ply wins the dubious distinction of plugging the most. I concur.
http://terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1661&highlight=paper

[Kali]

54. Oh, I can vouch for that on a regular toilet

After a bit of reserch I found Northern was acceptable to the house and the toilet (if you know what I mean)

Used to buy whatever came in a double roll and was on sale - finally figured out Charmin was always the culprit when we had clogging problems.

[Steven_S]

55. As DU's token plumber......

I have to tell you that the first time we saw these "pressure assist" toilets (early 80's) we thought it was the stupidest thing we ever saw. Think about it:

A pressurized vessel within a vitreous china container - real fuckin' smart. Sure enough within a few years we had Kohler's Exploding Toilet. They were taken off the market. In small houses when someone uses them at night it sounds like a bomb going off. Real fuckin' smart.


Last I checked the prices for the cartridge was $75.00, and if you have a problem you can't tell right away which part it is because they have the same symptoms.
You can change the part and have the same problem; then change another part and so on....real fuckin' smart.

What is a common practice here in the Bronx is to tell people to cut their losses on this; disconnect it and put it on the street. For the same money to repair it you can have a new one - that works.

Most 1.6 liter toilets work OK now, with the exception of Kohler and American Standard that have very weak flushes.

Just remember - your shit is my bread and butter. :)

[Tesha]

97. It's my considered opinion that *EVERYTHING* made by Kohler...

> Most 1.6 liter toilets work OK now, with the exception
> of Kohler and American Standard that have very weak flushes.

It's my considered opinion that *EVERYTHING* made by Kohler
looks great and works (or lasts) badly. This includes sinks,
toilets, lavatory faucets, and kitchen faucets.

Tesha

[gatorboy]

56. Can you spare a square?

One square!!!

[Warpy]

57. Here in the desert, it's illegal to install an old, high flow toilet

I've long thought most of the low flow jobs out there are ridiculous. I keep a gallon pail next to mine for stuff it just doesn't have the "oomph" to flush away. I'm considering getting a retro wall tank job when I redo this bathroom, just to increase the force of the inadequate water and see if it helps. Besides, I love reaching up to yank that chain.

Most of the time the sucker works OK, but it stops up over normal "loads." Even plunging has to be accompanied by extra water, defeating the whole original purpose.

Back home I had a high flow toilet with toilet dams in it, making sort of an artificial low flow toilet. It worked a hell of a lot better than the piece of garbage I've been living with for 10 years.

Well, the piece of garbage now has a hairline crack. so I'll be especially gleeful when it goes out the door.

[bklyncowgirl]

58. Mine has a "Flushmate" it's great.

Goes off with a great big WHOOSH and yes it gets absolutely everything in one shot. The water is contained in a plastic ball (about 1 gallon) with a pressure thingy (sorry, I forget what it's called & I'm too lazy to look it up). After living in the house three years we had to change the pressure thingy (about $25 DIY)

It's a bit loud but there'se something to be said for the feeling of accomplishment and power as this little bit of water shoots through your toilet like a mini tsunami.

[Late Slip]

64. This is embarrassing but what the hell

We took the kids to LA and the hotel we stayed in had a low flush toilet. Well, my husband did a load test on it, and it failed miserably. Then, not knowing the mind-scarring experience that she would be encountering, my 5 year old daugther visited the bathroom - without a warning from her father. She lifted the lid and screamed beacause she thought she saw a big brown snake in the toilet. To add to this, we had to go down to the front desk to let them know the toilet wasn't working. I felt sorry for the guy from maintenance who had to come in and fix it. I was mortified.

[TankLV]

78. That was good! Thanks for the laugh.

I used to work for a construction company that did all kinds of construction defect repair. We had to take a camera journey thru a sewer in an Apartment complex that was not operating correctly. Every time a certain object would come into view and disappear into the darkness, all the guys and gals would make some wisecrack - you can imagine the laughter level when we were thru looking at the video!

"Incomming!"

[Dorian Gray]

62. Hype...

For large "loads," they need to be flushed two or three times. And, in my parents' house, they overflow quite often. I have the old fashioned toilets, and they are so much better!

[lectrobyte]

68. Seem to work fine. Save water from what I can tell.

[TankLV]

72. Unless they are the expensive "forced air" flush type, they're useless.

We had some at work, and we had to flush 2 or 3 times, minimum, and they would STILL back up.

They are the biggest lie perpetuated recently.

Only the ones that have a vacuum forced air/pressure button/lever work well - but those you have to deal with "backwash" from the fast flushing that drives the shit back up towards the rim/lid.

Not pretty.

[sendero]

75. You guys just need to get..

.... a Ferguson!

[SmokingJacket]

77. I recently got a new toilet with a very tiny flush...

but it is somehow way more effective than the old toilet with the big flush. It's almost as if the water goes to exactly the right place....

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

79. I Personally Can't Stand Them. But My Work Has These Super Flush Toilets.

Now them, I love! No matter what I throw in them, whooooooooshhhhhhhhh (loud deep whooooshhhhh too), all gone!

Unlike my stupid piece of shit low flow toilet at home that can't handle more than two small wads or even one of charmin ultra. One of these days I gotta get off my ass, get to home depot, and replace the damn thing.


And while we're at it, can we get real fucking shower heads again too? LOL

[pitohui]

85. yes you have to flush several times

they're all over vegas for some reason, you use the same amt of water or more since you have to flush several times

there was even a "king of the hill" teevee program on this topic

[leftofthedial]

88. they are great!

if you flush three or four times, you get the same results as the old toilets, but with the low=flush ones you get to hang out in the bathroom longer waiting for the tank to refill so you can flush again

and again

and again

[Tracer]

96. NEW low-flow toilets work fine.

Just 4 months ago, I replaced a 40 year-old-toilet with a new low-flow one.

No problems at all.

[ileus]

98. Do your research

http://www.cuwcc.org/uploads/product/MaP-Sixth-Edition-CONDENSED.pdf

I researched a new toilets for 20 hours or more before deciding on the Kohler Cimarron model. You have to spend some cash to get a good high perfromance toilet but it's worth it. This unit has a half flush option for when there's no bulk material in the unit, which allows for even more water savings.

I've had this unit for 3 months now and never had to plunge, my old low flow toilet (55 bucks) was always plugging up.

[question everything]

99. The new ones, made by TOTO and Kohler

are terrific. They have a wide outlet that whisks everything at no time.

But... they are expensive. I think that they start at $500 or so.

Still, for instances where clogging happens too often, this is the way to go. Not so much for saving water but for saving angst.

Many years ago in Europe I would see a double handle tank. A "small flush" and a "big flush." I've never understood why it never caught here.


http://www.us.kohler.com/onlinecatalog/category.jsp?category=13&nsection=2&nsubsection=3&nitem=cat13

http://www.totousa.com/consumer_landing.asp

[Tesha]

115. Americans are dumb, xenophobic, and proud of "having enough to waste some"

> Many years ago in Europe I would see a double handle tank.
> A "small flush" and a "big flush." I've never understood
> why it never caught here.

Americans have always been dumb, xenophobic (even of foreign
inventions), and proud of "having enough to waste some".

But the next few decades ought to be an interesting, challenging
experience for a lot of Murkans. No jobs, no oil, no water, and
soon after, no food and no rights.

Tesha

[-..__...]

101. King Kong couldn't clog this crapper.

What wonderful times we live in...

"Flush test proves 'hole in one'
Champion toilet disposes golf balls By Tom Zucco
St. Petersburg Times

In a demonstration of hydraulic prowess at the International Builders Show in January, a Kohler toilet successfully disposed of 2 pounds of cocktail wieners in one flush and five rubber ducks in another.

An impressive, even heroic, feat.

But in what may be the first recorded case of commode one-upmanship, the real extreme toilet may be the $249 American Standard Champion.

"We've actually flushed 29 golf balls at once," boasts a recent American Standard ad, "and put the Champion toilet through dozens of flushing tests to make sure it will be the most trouble-free toilet you've ever owned. If it can handle all that, imagine how well it will work at your house."

The ad also states that the Champion will give users "the confidence to walk away and never look back."

Since the use of golf balls in the testing of toilets is both novel and on the cutting edge of technology, and since the Masters golf tournament is this weekend, we contacted Pete DeMarco, director of compliance engineering at American Standard, to discuss this further.

http://www.cincypost.com/2004/04/10/flush04-10-2004.html

[Scout]

102. takes two flushes to get rid of pee and paper, much less anything else

just started working in an office with two low-flows in the women's rest room.

You pretty much always have to flush it twice, and quite often find it incompletely flushed when you enter. Ick.

[smartvoter]

107. That's exactly what happened. nt