When it comes to saving money on household utilities, the last thing on your mind might be your toilet unless you’re thinking of home plumbing. Yet, the toilet comes with its own fair share of water-saving opportunities.
In fact, a low flush toilet can save you as much as 18,000 gallons of water every year once installed in your home. This is because low flush toilets were created specifically for water conservation purposes.
But if low flush toilets work so well, why is there an unsaid prejudice surrounding the low flush toilet? As it turns out, it’s because of the toilet’s very first model.
The Lowdown On The Low Flush Porcelain Throne
The household toilet as we know it was first invented in the mid-19th century by Joseph Adamson. This early toilet was known as the siphon-flush toilet and used gravity to force water from the tank into the bowl and down the drain.
This toilet used 7 gallons of water to take waste away but was creating its own waste in the meantime. Water conservation laws in the 1990s changed the modern toilet to reduce the amount of water wasted to wash away waste. And with these changes came the invention and use of the low flush toilet.
Unfortunately, toilet manufacturers had only reduced the amount of water used by the toilet and hadn’t thought of what to make of the force needed to wash waste away. The first models of the low flush toilet used only 1.6 gallons of water but had no alterations in design.
Needless to say, American households weren’t happy to see their waste was still mostly there even after a flush. As a result, the low flush toilet became synonymous with inefficiency.
Yet, the low flush toilet of today’s standards has had some major modifications to right the wrongs of the mid-90s. For instance, instead of placing the toilet’s tank high up on the wall, the tank was lowered to give the 1.6 gallons a little extra power.
Pressurized air is also used to help the water pick up the pace, thereby turning the frowned-upon low flush toilet into a high-efficiency porcelain throne worthy of kings.
A low flush toilet can save you money in the long run on your household utilities, but only if it’s in good working condition. Don’t forget that your toilet needs a little elbow grease every now and then from your local home plumbing services to get everything in working order.