Can Your Toilet Flush Four Tennis Balls?
Loading ...Posted on: September 15, 2009
Posted in: Appliances & Gadgets, Featured, Video, Water Conservation
Click here to listen to our Greenovation segment on The Environment Report on your local NPR station
Two rules of thumb for deciding whether to replace your toilet:
Old school 8 gallon per flush toilet
1) if your toilet is old enough to vote, or
2) if the tank is avocado or gold . . .
it’s time to get a new generation high-efficiency toilet.
Sit on this for a while . . . your family of three will flush the toilet over a 1/2 million times in your lifetime. Now consider that the oldest toilets use about 8 gallons per flush and toilets installed before 1992 use at least 3.5 gallons per flush (gpf). And by the way, that’s fresh drinking water you’re peeing in.
So with all that money going down the toilet, it’s time to upgrade to a new generation high-efficiency toilet.
WHAT IS A HIGH EFFICIENCY TOILET?
A High-Efficiency Toilet or (HET) is a toilet that uses 1.3 gpf or less. The State of California now requires that all new toilets meet this standard. Dual flush toilets take it to the next level by offering a lower flush option of only .8 gpf.
DO THEY COST MORE?
Dual-flush HETs do not cost more. Although they have a slightly higher up front cost (between $250 – $500), the water savings make them far less expensive over time. According to PottyGirl, if a family of four replaces one 3.5 gpf toilet made between 1980 and 1994 with a WaterSense toilet, they can save $2,000 over the lifetime of the toilet.
Dual-flush toilets give an option of .8 gallon flush.
Check out GreenandSave.com to find out your return on investment for a dual-flush HET.
DO THEY WORK? . . . A GUIDE TO LIVING A PLUNGER FREE LIFE
Yes. They work. They flush better and waste less.
Plumbing guru Terry Love says “with the changes in the water usage laws of 1992, many encountered plumbing problems. The first round of low-flow toilets were not quite ready for prime-time. Customer complaints were many and plumbers were in the bad position of installing products that nobody wanted to use. Recently, . . . things have changed. Some of the new plumbing products work better than the old water wasters.”
The latest model dual-flush toilets have the option of using 1.28 gallons per flush (gpf) or a meager .8 gpf (around 12 cups).
In our Greenovation segment for the Environment Report on public radio stations we tried the Caroma Sydney which has a unique 4-inch trapway. The .8 gallon button flushed virtually everything including 4 tennis balls, 4 potatoes, and even an entire t-shirt. No plunger required.
[MORON ALERT: Don't try this at home! If you get a tennis ball and your old Michael Jackson "Thriller Tour" t-shirt stuck in your sewer drain . . . don't come crying to me].
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Look for the Water Sense label. This will ensure not only efficiency but also high performance
The 4" trapway on this Caroma dual flush eliminates clogs
HOW MUCH WILL YOU SAVE WITH A DUAL-FLUSH?
Try out this free cost savings spreadsheet: Click here
FACTS:
On average, 30% – 40% of a family’s water bill goes down the toilet
By 2013, 36 U.S. states are predicted to experience catastrophic water shortages
Advances in toilet design permit WaterSense HETs to save water without loss of flushing power.
LEARN MORE (or “Everything you ever wanted to know about ridding your life of poop but were afraid to ask“)
WaterSense Label: How to find money savings faucets and toilets
Video: Flushing Away Cash
Dual flush toilets retain high style while improving performance and efficiency
Today’s Best Toilets, Terry Love
Terry Love’s low-flow toilet report
Fine Homebuilding Choosing a Toilet
Kohler’s SaveWaterAmerica.com
WHERE TO BUY A DUAL FLUSH TOILET
EcoBuildingProducts Caroma
Wal-Mart American Standard
BGreen (Michigan & Northern Ohio only) Toto, Kohler, and Caroma
Home Depot Kohler, American Standard, and Foremost
BuyPluming.net Caroma and Toto
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September 17th, 2009 at 7:28 am
Use this link to get the poop on current toilet models maximum performance testing. This is a very good report listing most models sold in N America…
http://www.cwwa.ca/pdf_files/Map-Report-14th-Ed-05-2009.pdf
Cut and paste.
October 30th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Haha, sweet looking green toilet. And yeah, the best kind of toilets never clog up and spill over, which is why I prefer Totos myself.
-Jack
January 3rd, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Recent Consumer Reports tests found these to be the best single-flush units (in order of rating):
American Standard Champion 4
Kohler K-11456
Kohler K-3493
Gerber’s Avalanche 21-817
Gerber Ultra Flush 21-318
American Standard FloWise Cadet 3
Gerber Ultra Flush 21-302
American Standard Cadet 2366.100
Toto EcoDrake CST744EL01
Kohler Cimarron K-3609
Mansfield Alto 137-160
The 3 best dual-flush are (in order of rating):
Gerber Ultra Dual-FLush DF-21-318
Mansfield Eco-Quantum 148-119
American Standard FloWise 2480.216
The Caroma was significantly lower rated. This was the Caravelle model–perhaps other models are better.
May 12th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Consumer Reports have never tested the Caroma Sydney 270, which the Dual Flush Toilet included in the video listed above.
Watch the video to see how great the Caroma Sydney 270 is.