Water use and toilets
 

Some time ago I opened an topic (thread) about new washing machines not using enough water.
A few of the members from here complained the same about toilets. I'm not an expert in sanitary installations, but can this affect the toilet in a bad way? I know that modern flush toilets uses some kind of system where the "route" of the water get a little bit thiner and the end, so a kind of push system forms and this is why they can use less water.
In U.S.A. I know that you have sometimes an kind of flush and vacuum toilet. You pull a rod of the flusher, an valve opens, the water from the toilet gets out, and when the valve closes, the toilet is refilled with water. How common is this system?

Yesterday I was an Interstate 74 rest stop (on topic note: coming back from the ETF convention).
The get clear toilet water from the previous user took 14 ... I counted ... flushes because of inadequate flow.

Most of our crappers use the same system. See U tubes. Water savers are standard now & many worked poorly. Its probably against the law to
use old ones in some areas. When they first came out there was a black market
for the old type. Just like light bulbs.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

The new ones have gradually come to suck less, but still aren't as good as the old ones. I remember as a kid an old 1940s one in our house was able to flush one of my T-shirts (accident) without clogging, but modern ones have a hard time just handling a big crap without any TP.

Speaking of travel back from the ETF, a McDonald's along the interstate didn't have the inside open and we had to search for a restroom elsewhere. If I was a Tick Tock influencer instead of a YouTuber I'd be half tempted to start a trend of peeing on the doors of places that still haven't returned to their normal pre-covid hours....not being open makes travel as unpleasant as it would be for the employees who'd have to clean up over such protest.

My so-called water saving toilet, 1.9gal flush, seemed to get clogged easily.
I bought another one in like new condition at the HFH restore. It's a good place to keep in mind if you need plumbing items. :thmbsp:

I have 2 low flush toilets = 6 litres per flush, never had them block up but the sewer that serves mine & 2 other houses blocks up regularly, all 3 houses now have low flush toilets. The water company has put a float valve switch connected to the cell phone network in the manhole to tell them when it blocks up, a man comes to change the battery every 2 to 3 years. It saves me money as I'm on a water meter which is fairly unusual in Britain as most people are on a flat rate that is based on the house/apts value & takes no account of how much water is actually used...

Most of the US water charges are based mainly on the sewage charge. The actual water use is very inexpensive. The water in my house is from a community well. Extremely hard water! :thumbsdn:

Our water here is soft, have a good lather when in the bath/shower. Read somewhere that hard water has health benefits over soft, also it's supposed to be better for making tea, & I drink gallons of tea. Some tea brands make different tea for soft & hard water. I sometimes buy a brand called Scottish Tea that is specially blended for soft water as most of Scotland has very soft water, most of southern & eastern England has hard water...

Toilets are like any other product: There are better ones, and inferior ones.

Going back to perhaps 1990, a magazine in USA called Consumer Reports did tests of water-saving toilets (6 liters or less per flush), and there some very good ones available even then.

Your description seems to match the standard toilet design of almost every "typical" toilet in the homes or small businesses in the USA. The tank has a rubber or equivalent "flapper valve" that is lifted open by a chain from the flushing lever as you mentioned. The valve is held open by the flow of water until the water level gets lower in the tank, then the valve's weight is stronger than the force of the remaining water and it closes again, allowing the tank to refill. A sealed air-filled ball or other device with an adjustable lever floats in the tank and rises as the tank refills until its lever position causes the filling valve to close.

Ten years ago or more, I replaced my toilet with a water-saving one, the American Standard brand, Cadet model. In my state (California) as of then, and perhaps in many or all other parts of the USA as of now, the water-saving ones are the only style available, required by law. A few months ago, I had to replace the valve components of mine because both valves were leaking and wasting water. The replacement valve system had several adjustments, and I found that I had to set it to the lowest settings to get it to use 2 gallons (7-7.5 liters?) or less per flush. So, that seems as if it is a big loophole in the water-saving laws; anyone who wants to deliberately use lots of water when they flush their toilet could buy one of these common valve-replacement kits and set it a high flow rate.

I thought that a lot of homse in U.S.A. have the European system, in which the water pressure pushses the content. U.S.A. style toilet, I've use one a few times in a hotel in Bucharest. I knew about them, but that's the only time I've seen one.
Going around the rules. That's something good sometimes. I like that in U.S.A. you can sometimes still do that... Even in Romania it's hard when it's coming to "economy". But you can still find light bulbs and I think large water tanks for toilets, since I don't think water-saving toilets are mandatory here.

Many of the W/C's in the commercial establishments in the US have Sloan flush valve instead of a tank. It flushes with a lot of force! Solids and paper are no match for that kind of force. :yes:

Some systems especially in hotels are real powerful. Get too close and
they can tear your arm off. Even the most stubborn "floaters" dont stand
a chance. What drives me nuts is hi tech crappers. When we go down Maine
to my brothers cottage on Casco Bay I have to deal with no handle or
button to flush. Just have to wave your hand...... The damn light comes
on by itself too. I guess I am just obsolete.

Zeno

In that Bucharest hotel I've seen Sloan valve. Now I found it's name. It's also called a flushometer. In an around 1930 I found a thing like this called a sitometer - made in Germany. Quite complicated - it had oil into it! In a 1959 Romanian book I don't know if they give this model, but they say that systems do requires a lot of water.
But a flushometer, how the vacum is produced? It haves also an valve into the wall?
Don't tell me about sensor and taps. Washing your hands sensor taps can be really annyoing. :grumpy:

Going around rules is an American tradition. Especially for those of us
with deep colonial roots. We fought the revolution over rules, taxes, &
representation. Thats why I can run down the street, by some guns &
carry them. If you have the $$$ you can even go full auto. IIRC there
are 250,000 known machine guns in private hands legally.

Zeno
LFOD !