A greener toilet? We've been talking a lot lately about wasting electricity, but what about wasting water? Great advancements have been made in the toilet's technology, particularly in regard to its water usage. But for some reason, the US is always the last to catch onto a trend. Anyone who has been to Europe has discovered the subtleties of a dual-flush toilet. One button for when you need a little water, and one for a stronger stream. Either choice saves a tremendous amount of water, a dual-flush toilet uses between 0.8-1.6 gallons per flush (depending on whether you use low or high.) Compare that to the 3-7 gallons used by the older, traditional models.
HGTV reports that a family of four can save 5,000 gallons of water a year using a dual-flush toilet.
Green Tip: Toliet Technologies
We found several manufacturers that make dual-flush toilets available in the US, including Kohler, Caroma, and Toto. So keep this in mind during your next bathroom renovation.
Not in the market for a new toilet anytime soon? Try this easy solution, simply fill up two water bottles and place them in the tank (bricks will work as well). These bottles will prevent the toilet from filling up with as much water, therefore reducing the amount used and wasted.
(Thanks to Austin for the toilet tank image)
Comments (6)
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Actually - bricks are not such a wise choice as they tend to break down when submerged in water. Unless, of course, you wrap them in a plastic bag...
The low-flow toilets have been found to be fairly useless with solid wastes (people tend to have to flush four or five times).
Now if they had a .8 gallon and 7 gallon dual flush I would go for that.
The apartment I have now has flushometer style toilets. There is no tank. I hate to admit it, but I love them. Lord knows how much water they waste but they never ever clog.
if it's yellow/let it mellow
if it's brown/flush it down
that has always been good, solid (and liquid) advice
I've never heard of flushometer -- is that the same as pressure-assisted flushing?
I have an electronic pressure-assisted toilet at my work, and 99.99% of the time it has not clogged -- even though the flushing sound can be described as thunderous. The temporary deafness is still totally worth it though. :)
Do they make dual-flush toilets in pressure-assisted versions? I'm all about conserving water; but my next toilet will definitely be a pressure-assisted kind.
Here in Australia we've had dual-flush toilets for over a decade now - no-one I know has had a problem with them, there's no need for multiple flushes. It's actually a surprise to me when I go to older homes that only have a single-flush toilet now - I assume they haven't renovated the bathroom in the last 10 years. I was surprised to learn that they're not used in the USA.
If you're worried about bits of brick in your system, use a weighted plastic container instead.
I moved from So. California to New Zealand and ALL the toliets here are like this. At first I thought it was weird but it's actually nice to know you're not wasting water (when my man first went from NZ to CA to visit me, he immediatly commented on how full of water the toilet was and thought it was broken!).