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BANG FOR THE BITE
If 10,000 Biter households replace one old-school toilet with a dual-flush, in just one day we'll save enough water to flush 350,000 number ones.
COCKTAIL FACT
Toto's cheeky Washlet toilet ads, featuring naked butts, were served with an injunction when they were set to appear over Times Square Church in NYC last July.
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home › tip library › Dual Flush Toilets
"If it's yellow, let it mellow" just not your thing?
The Bite
Ours either. As Euro-Biters know, dual-flush toilets offer a slightly more appealing way to conserve water in the commode. Dual-flushers give you not one, but two flush options: one low-water flush (for number one) and one with more H2O (for number two).The Benefits
- Water savings. Even if you already have a low-flow john, switching to dual-flush can save 28 more gallons per day.
- Bill savings. Replacing one pre-1994 toilet (which use around 3.5 gal per flush) with a high-efficiency one can save a family of four $90 on their water bill each year.
- Rebates. In some cases, your city or water district will reimburse the cost of a dual-flush toilet. Sounds like crazy talk, but check with your water district and see.
Personally Speaking
Jen was so excited about her new Mancesa dual-flush toilet that she made every guest who came over check it out. Responses ranged from "Huh," to "Well, would you look at that."Wanna Try?
- Mancesa - tried and true version; Jen picked hers up at Lowe's ($200-$500).
- Caroma - Aussie company that made the big-time introducing dual-flush toilets ($294-$1,295).
- Water Conservation Rebates - find local tax rebates for dual-flush toilets.
Oct 04,2007
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Neither #1, Nor #2
In August this year, I was lucky enough to get to spend Jen's birthday with her in Bozeman. All in all, it was a fun celebration. But then it morphed somewhat - what started with cocktails, turned into white wine, graduated to tequila, transitioned to beer, and then moved to red wine. We capped the evening off by watching DVDs and scarfing French fries in some bad throwback to life in 1996.
For reasons completely unfathomable to me, Jen got up at the crack of dawn and went to a riding lesson for three hours. She was absolutely fine. Had a lovely, sun-filled day.
Me? I got intimately acquainted with her very nice Mancesa dual flush toilet. Until 6 pm.
-Heather...off to consider how this blog would have been more age-appropriate 10 years ago...
For reasons completely unfathomable to me, Jen got up at the crack of dawn and went to a riding lesson for three hours. She was absolutely fine. Had a lovely, sun-filled day.
Me? I got intimately acquainted with her very nice Mancesa dual flush toilet. Until 6 pm.
-Heather...off to consider how this blog would have been more age-appropriate 10 years ago...
Biter Comments...
I haven't tried / bought this yet, but Real Goods (www.realgoodscatalog.com) sells a controllable flusher that supposedly converts any toilet to a 1-2 style flusher. The product is at
http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product/02-0205
In Japan, they have a water saving toilet that is really neat. There's a small sink on top of the toilet tank lid. When you flush, the water first goes through the faucet in the little sink so you can wash your hands before it goes into the toilet bowl. So cool! Here's a picture: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/07/wash_your_hands.php
Toto also makes a dual-flush toilet, the Aquia, which may be more available in some areas (like Pittsburgh, where I am) than Caroma.
The installation is a bit unusual, having a skirted bottom around an underneath part (aargh, it's PVC which I'm generally trying to avoid) and there is one error in the instructions (need a larger size hole for some of the screw anchors), but the toilet works fine.
Or you can hold off on the flush when you go #1 & flush every other time...just a thought.
ah...the throwback weekend. those can be brutal.
kohler makes a great dual flush toilet, the Sterling Rockton that we have used on jobs. it does the job well, and saves the average American family of four approximately 6,000 gallons of water each year. with more than 1.8 million housing starts each year, that's more than 10,800,000,000 gallons of water preserved each year! not to mention the costs associated with all the bad stuff we mix into our waste water flows...medications, toxic chemicals, etc...
there's a really cool slide out there showing how small our water resources really are...if i can find it, i'll post it!
and actual toilet flushing studies exist out there, with some soy-by-product mimicking the real thing (the photos are great...i'd definitely
Thanks for the info about the controllable flusher from Gaiam, Aubree. I've added two to my holiday wishlist, which I'm creating myself using the Alternative Gift Registry site: www.alternativegiftregistry.org
Don't know if this will get to Jen but...I looked at her photo album that was attached to the "watch me feed the chickens w/ grandma" picture (i swear i'm not weird, just home alone w/ an infant). As someone who used to ride a lot, tell her she has a BEAUTIFUL horse and I'm so jealous.
Yes, as mentioned above the Japanese toilets are incredibly cool. Don't know if they have them available here, but they should. All the water in the toilet is essentially "grey water", meaning it goes through the faucet first for you to wash your hands, then fills the toilet.
Hi, I have an issue that, I hope, is worthy of the Bite. Perhaps you have already addressed this, and if not, perhaps you can help.
The metal arms (or whatever they are called) that hold my toilet seat to the toilet base consistently break. According to my local hardware store, the industry doesn't make replacement arms so I have to purchase a whole new toilet seat.
This industry "monopoly" is crazy and unreal to me. I don't want to chuck my toilet seat in the landfill every time the arms break. I would just like to fix/replace the arms.
Can you folks help? Is there an organic toilet seat that is environmentally friendly? Perhaps with arms that are replaceable?
Thanks and Peace to you...
Laura
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: Aubree | October 04, 2007 at 06:10 AM