Dear Umbra,
I'm selling my house in Los Angeles and my toilet is not low-flow. One of the inspectors is trying to tell me I need to replace my toilet with a new low-flow. Well, I know the old ziplock baggie filled with water trick. But I saw that you made mention of some kits to reduce the flow from 3.5 gallons per flush to 1.6 gallons a flush. I believe in recycling. I don't feel that I have to replace my working toilet. Can I modify it? I feel like he's just trying to make a pretty penny. Help me out with your words of wisdom.
Susan
Los Angeles, Calif.
Dearest Susan,
I'm only a little better with realty than I was with tax law. I am confounded as to how an inspector would make any money if you replaced your toilet, and am further confused by mention of multiple inspectors. Please talk to your realtor, who should be able to advise you as to your obligations.
I did mention toilet adaptation kits back in the autumn of 2005. If you look carefully at that question, however, you will see the writer was a renter. Sadly for you, if you own the house and have the cash, you should replace the toilet. New, low-flow toilets are so far superior to old high-flow toilets that replacement is the only professionally recommended option. Plus, who wants to buy a house with a toilet with a bag in it?
Of loos and lucre.
Photo: iStockphoto
It's true, you can put a bag of water in the tank (never use a brick -- they tend to disintegrate) or any of these special flappers meant to reduce the water flow into the tank, but that will not bring the flow down as efficiently or as effectively as a new model. When I wrote about the renter and her toilet adaptation, I got several letters from professionals admonishing me for even mentioning adaptation. Efficient toilets are one of those amazing easy conservation steps. The toilet could be up to 30 percent of your household water use. If you get a toilet twice as efficient -- go from 3 gallons per flush to 1.6 per flush -- you can do the math on how much water you conserve without changing your behavior.
That said, shopping for toilets can be a little baffling. They all look the same, except for the ones that look weird. How can you tell they'll actually flush everything down, or whether they'll break and cost a plumber's visit? The EPA Water Sense program certifies High Efficiency Toilets, and all over the web you can find various lists of best toilets compiled by plumbers and agencies. If you happen to be near a decent plumbing store, where they sell and service toilets, they should also know which models work well and which need to be repaired too often.
Don't worry about your old toilet. Dispose of it carefully and it might have a new, happy life in the great outdoors as a crushed porcelain walkway mixture. I would personally far rather be a crushed walkway than a toilet bowl.
Plungingly,
Umbra
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Comments
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thollandpe Posted 7:14 am
09 Jul 2007
Works great, less filling!
TH in MA
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Jeff McMeans Posted 2:39 pm
09 Jul 2007
When I take showers, I put a small bucket up and catch all the cold water that most people just let go down the drain. I put this bucket, each day, into my washing machine and when it is time, I wash the clothes with water that would have been wasted.
I also put in the wash water the rinse water from washing dishes, not to mention the water that was used to boil a 3 minute egg.
Simplicity, people; the answers are there already.
When I wash clothes, that water goes on the front lawn. With a turn of the handle, the rinse water from the wash goes into five-5 gallon buckets that then are used to wash the next load? Any questions?
Peace,
Jeffrey McMeans
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armerc Posted 4:15 pm
09 Jul 2007
But on the 1.6gal toilets, we just got a new one that puts a large volume through very quickly (made by Toto- I don't know if anyone else makes them) and it really works well. No more having to flush the toilet twice because not everything flushed (yes, having to flush twice kinda negates having a 1.6gal toilet).
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Delay And Deny Posted 9:28 pm
09 Jul 2007
I went with "low flow" for a while.
You know what? I think it's really unsanitary. All that water is there for a reason -- to clean the ** off the sides of the bowl.
Take away the water...well, I don't, because it stinks.
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Birdy100 Posted 11:32 pm
09 Jul 2007
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colwyn Posted 2:00 am
10 Jul 2007
One of the incentives for manufacturers to improve the performance of the toilets has been effective performance testing funded by water utilities in the US and Canada (including Los Angeles). The Maximum Performance (MaP) Test has been used to rate almost every make and model of toilet on the North American market, and the results are available on the web at http://www.cuwcc.org/MapTesting.lasso so anyone can choose a toilet that will reliably clear the waste with just one efficient flush.
The MaP test, along with a durability rating system developed in Los Angeles called SPS, has been adopted by the EPA as part of its new Water Sense standard for High Efficiency Toilets (HET's) that use less than 1.3 gallons per flush (this includes dual flush toilets that average less than 1.3 gallons). Any toilet bearing the Water Sense HET label must be able to reliably flush at least 350 grams (3/4 lb) of solids (soybean paste is used for the test because of its "realistic" properties...). For toilets at least, it is no longer true that a gain in efficiency comes at a price in performace.
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dhwert Posted 6:51 am
10 Jul 2007
http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html
http://www.weblife.org/humanure/
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grygy Posted 7:32 am
10 Jul 2007
Of course one can also go the hippy route, but that's hard when family comes round, dual-flush works for even your 90 yr old granny. And do check out the MaP pdf file, it's big but the pictures are worth it...
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