Archive for clogged toilet
Overflow Protection for Toilets: Innovative or Unnecessary?
Posted by: | CommentsProfessor Toilet has become aware of a toilet now on the market with a remarkable “new” invention—it has overflow holes in the bowl so that the bowl won’t overflow if the toilet clogs.
This is a great innovation, except it is years too late. Years ago when toilets used 3.5 gallons or more of water per flush, if there was a clog the bowl would overflow and make a mess. We old folks like the Professor remember many horror stories about this.
Now that toilets use only 1.6 gallons and even less of water per flush, there is not enough water in a single flush to overflow the bowl. One would have to flush twice or even three times in order to overflow the bowl. If your bowl is clogged you are not going to flush the toilet again if you see the bowl filled up with water and not going down. This is common sense.
Furthermore, with all the advances in toilet flushing technologies, new toilets featuring oversized trapways are engineered to eliminate clogging. In fact, toilets such as the American Standard Champion®4 toilet, with the industry’s largest siphonic trapway at 2-3/8”, is engineered not to clog and will remove a 67% larger mass than a toilet with a standard 2” trapway.
So with new toilets that feature trapways in excess of 2”, clogging is essentially a non-issue. And, even if the rare clog occurs, the bowl won’t overflow unless it is flushed repeatedly.
Now, a couple more thoughts about this “new” invention:
- The extra trap seal required for the overflow uses and wastes about 30 ml. of extra water on every flush. This is not going in the right direction for saving water.
- The extra seal for the overflow contains only about 30 ml. of water—it can evaporate quickly if the toilet is not used frequently enough. This will result in sewer gases leaking into the room and a rather nasty smell.
- Also, the invention only works on clogs in front of the trapway (the same kind you usually won’t get with a Champion4 or Cadet3). If the clog is in the drain pipe and not in the toilet, the bowl will still fill up with water. While the bowl won’t overflow because of today’s water usages, the new invention nonetheless isn’t failsafe for all kinds of clogs.
The Professor is continually on the lookout for new toilet innovations to determine their real merits and communicate the facts to his audience so that they can make educated decisions.
A Life and a Marriage Saved by the Champion 4 Toilet
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It’s likely that very few people make a hobby of reading toilet reviews the way the Professor does, but this take on the superior flushing ability of the Champion 4 up at HomeDepot.com is a must-read. Follow the link above for the touching story of how the virtually clog-free toilet kept an Atlanta resident out of federal prison and saved the life of a mother-in-law whose regular diet apparently consisted of “broccoli, cabbage, and gravel.” Enjoy.
The Virtually “Child Proof” Champion 4 Toilet by American Standard
Posted by: | CommentsFriday is a good day for a video about kids who are fascinated by toilets.
Champion 4 Toilet Delivers Happy Customers–No Callbacks–for Dunbar Plumbing
Posted by: | CommentsDunbar Plumbing, a leader plumber in northern Kentucky, cites “simple design and powerful flushing action,” as reasons why the Champion 4 Toilet is one of Dunbar’s best selling flushers. Below is their own video showing the amount of water in the bowl and exclusive Accelerator Flush Valve inside the tank:
In their own words, on their forum, Dunbar Plumbing explains the benefits of the Champion 4 toilet:
“With the American Standard Champion 4 toilet, our customers have been extremely pleased with the flushing action of the toilet with a “no worry” attitude about what possibly gets thrown down the toilet. This toilet uses a small fraction of water compared to the older 1.6 gallon toilets including the 3.5 gallon flush toilets. Now that these new style toilets use so little water compared to the wasteful 3.5 gallon toilet, it’s a no brainer that those older toilets were such a costly design. We’ve watched the advancements in the technology grow over the past 25 years and it has been a road hard paved with good intentions to finally get a good working, good flushing toilet.” Read more at the Dunbar Plumbing Forum.
Holiday Toilet Turmoil | The Indianapolis Star
Posted by: | CommentsOn one hand, we applaud the Indianapolis plumber who advises training your house guests on how to use your toilets.
On the other hand, that’s not a discussion Professor Toilet really wishes to have with the in-laws.
If you have a houseful headed your way this month, get a top-rated Champion 4 toilet like the Oakmont.
Preventing Holiday Plumbing Problems
Posted by: | CommentsThe Professor is as excited as anyone else about the prospect of over-indulgence in food, football and festivities.
Also as nervous as anyone else about the prospects of uninvited guests, including clogged toilets and other plumbing nightmares.
Our friends over The Money Pit have a set up tips to help prevent an appearance by your plumber at the dinner table (unless he’s been invited). Take a read: Preventing Holiday Plumbing Problems.
World Toilet Day – Health and Sanitation Also Means Thanking a Plumber
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It’s World Toilet Day. A perfect day to hug your plumber.
The premise of World Toilet Day is to remind us all of the serious sanitation problems facing much of the world. Problems that affluent countries rarely think about. Until you study World History and learn about the Plague for the first time.
The first rate sanitary systems we enjoy in North America are indeed due to our advanced product technology, but also to the plumbers who protect the health of our nation every day.
So in honor of World Toilet Day, the Professor urges you to do three things:
1. Make a donation to your favorite clean water charity.
2. Go ahead and do the Big Squat.
3. Hug your plumber. And tell him or her “thanks.”
The iconic 1930s American Standard ad
Bathroom Blogfest 09: Flushing this economy will take more than the average toilet
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This post is part of Bathroom Blogfest 09. Professor Toilet is proud to be one of 21 bloggers invited to participate in this third annual event, celebrating all aspects of bathrooms. This year’s Bathroom Blogfest theme is “Flush the Recession and Plunge Into Forgotten Spaces.”
MaP Your Way Around Clogged Toilets
To flush the likes of this economy, it takes a high performance toilet, independently tested to remove at least 1,000 grams of solid waste on just 1.6 gallons of water or less.
That’s more than 2.2 pounds of stuff you really do not want to be plunging.
Maximum Performance Testing (MaP) is an independent report of toilet flushing performance developed by John Koehler and Veritec Consulting. The 15th edition was just published last week, available free through the Alliance for Water Efficiency.
The EPA requires that WaterSense labeled toilets be able to flush a minimum of 350 grams in the MaP test. At present, MaP test is the main, if not only, independently recognized test designed to gauge this rather important parameter.
Follow along with participating bloggers for the Bathroom Blogfest ’09 all week:
• Susan Abbott at Customer Experience Crossroads http://www.customercrossroads.com
• Reshma Anand at Qualitative Research Blog http://onqualitativeresearch.blogspot.com/
• Shannon Bilby at From the Floors Up http://fromthefloorsup.com/
• Shannon Bilby and Brad Millner at My Big Bob’s Blog http://blog.mybigbobs.com/
• Laurence Borel at Blog Till You Drop http://www.laurenceborel.com/
• Jeanne Byington at The Importance of Earnest Service http://blog.jmbyington.com/
• Becky Carroll at Customers Rock! http://www.customersrock.net
• Leslie Clagett at KB Culture www.kbculture.blogspot.com
• Katie Clark at Practical Katie http://practicalkatie.blogspot.com/
• Iris Shreve Garrott at Checking In and Checking Out http://circulating.wordpress.com/
• Julie at Julie’s Cleaning Secrets Blog http://cleaningsecrets.greatcleaners.com/
• Marianna Hayes at Results Revolution http://www.resultsrevolution.com
• Maria Palma at People To People Service http://www.people2peopleservice.com/
• Professor Toilet at Professor Toilet’s Blog http://www.professortoilet.com/
• David Reich at My 2 Cents http://reichcomm.typepad.com/
• Bethany Richmond at The Carpet and Rug Institute Blog http://www.carpet-and-rug-institute-blog.com
• Carolyn Townes at Becoming a Woman of Purpose http://spiritwomen.blogspot.com
• Stephanie Weaver at Experienceology http://experienceology.blogspot.com;
• C.B. Whittemore at Flooring The Consumer http://flooringtheconsumer.blogspot.com
and Simple Marketing Blog http://www.SimpleMarketingBlog.com
• Linda Wright at Lindaloo.com: Build Better Business with Better Bathroomshttp://lindaloo.com/
Toilet broken on crowded space station – Return to Flight- msnbc.com
Posted by: | CommentsSix space station residents. One working toilet. What is this, the Brady Bunch?
NASA
via Toilet broken on crowded space station – Return to Flight- msnbc.com.
The Day Bad Flushing Began
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The Energy Policy Act of 1992 mandated that all toilets sold in the United States effective January 1, 1994 could flush with no more than 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf). Unfortunately, science had not quite caught up to our politicians, Professor Toilet says sarcastically. And the season of bad flushing had begun.
Humorist Dave Barry told MSNBC that “blowing the lid off that story” got one of strongest reaction of all the columns he’s ever written.
The objective was water conservation, but the result was anything but. Using less water in toilets engineered to flush 3.5 gallons or more only meant double flushing or more, wasting far more water than the old toilets ever used.
Fortunately, science prevailed–even over Congress. Read more from the Plumbing Manufacturers Institute about the difference between water conservation and water efficiency.
