Dear Umbra,
I live in an apartment. What can I do to reduce the amount of water that is flushed in the toilet? The landlord will not fix it.
Audrey
Brookline, Mass.
Dearest Audrey,
Ooh, more toilet talk.
I quote USA Landlord, which supplies landlords and tenants with water-saving devices: "This really is a landlord no-brainer!" And I append, "Especially if he is paying the water bill." But even if your landlord won't help, you can adapt your own toilet, and it won't cost much -- maybe $12 max. (If you don't know how toilets work, go take the lid off the tank and watch the mechanisms move as you flush before you read the rest of this answer.)
Waste not, want not.
Photo: iStockphoto/Donald Gruener.
The first thing to do is check if the tank is leaking. Remove the top and squirt some dark food coloring into the water. Do not flush. Wait 15 to 30 minutes. If the food coloring ends up in the toilet bowl, your tank water is continually running into the bowl, which means the water in the tank must continually be replenished, and is being wasted. Go to the landlord and tell him the toilet is actually broken.
If you have no leak and your toilet is not low-flow (most older models aren't), you can save water by adding a device to the tank that will take up space. You could just put a milk jug full of water or pebbles in there, but there are also products with cutesy alliterative names, like Toilet Tummy, Toilet Tank Bank, and Little Cutesy Wutesy Poopsy Flushy Wushy. (OK, I made that one up.)
Another approach is a fill cycle diverter ($1), which attaches to the incoming water valve and diverts water from the overflow pipe back into the tank. It sounds complicated, but I'm sure it comes with instructions, and few things are less mysterious than a toilet.
I'm most curious about the Frugal Flush Flapper ($6) and similar products. You see the flapper in the tank? It covers the opening after the bowl has filled. Apparently these newfangled flappers flap down sooner, and can turn a 3.5-gallon (or more) flush into a 1.6-gallon (low-flow) flush.
All of these adaptors should be available at your local hardware or plumbing shop. Many cities and counties offer free water-conservation kits, so give a call over to the city water office and see what you can get. And good for you.
Flushy wushily,
Umbra
Cobbling together a delicious and easy summer dessert
Ask Umbra on paperback writers
Ask Umbra on green moving companies
Comments View as Flat
greenstork Posted 5:40 am
28 Nov 2005
Dual Flush
And if you're remodeling your bathroom, there are a lot of great dual flush options like this Caroma toilet:
http://www.caroma.com.au/innovate/idea_1.htm
Permalink
RobertPaulson Posted 3:21 pm
28 Nov 2005
If it's yellow....
Anything wrong with following the adage "If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down?" By only flushing with #2, you can significantly reduce your number of flushes. This is, of course, dependent on how often you #2 and whether you can stand to leave urine in the toilet. But, hey, it's just a suggestion......
R.P.
Permalink
Beedy Parker Posted 12:27 am
29 Nov 2005
lowflow
To save water in toilet flushing, we save the pee in plastic milk jugs (females use a funnel) and dump it on the leaf pile. Breaks down nicely. Great fertile mulch. But in the winter, or with no leaf pile, we fill a jug and flush it all down in one flush (or it "flushes itself".
Permalink
Susan Posted 12:20 am
30 Nov 2005
Bricks in the toilet
What ever happened to the idea of putting a brick or two into the toilet tank?
Permalink
SustainableJoe Posted 2:43 am
06 Dec 2005
Reuse Water
Instead of putting in a newer toilet, I decided to reuse my bath water. I live in the city, so I really do not 'need' to do it, but the point is to reduce our foot print on Earth. And I am saving a ton of water and money doing it- So Stick to the Man. I had a 32 gallon trash can that I pumped the water in, then gravity fed to the tank. I am currently using a two gallon pail of water and dumping directly into the bowl and reusing 5 gallon pails to store water until I need it. I believe it will be more cost effective for most people and easier to handle, though the trash can can hold more water. Down side, do not expect a shine white bowl ever again. If you what a white bowl, use rainwater, you should be use that already, Right?
Permalink