Make your old toilet save water.
AYBABTU
down longer to flush "solids" i.e. it defaults to a urine flush.
--
"In the future you may be here, but will your dreams?"
PaPaPeng
wrote:
>If you put enough weight on the flapper , you'll have to hold the handle
>down longer to flush "solids" i.e. it defaults to a urine flush.
I had used the weighted ball from a mouse device to put inside the
flapper for the very purpose you described. Its just the right size.
Its not that useful as almost 2/3 to 3/4 of the tank water is
discharged before the weight can close the flap fast enough.
The modification doesn't work too well for a poop flush either. This
is because the flapper need to float with the level of the water in
the tank. The conical shape of the flapper causes the water discharge
as a swirl into the bowl thus creating a better suction for the
siphon trap. With the flapper held all the way up the tank water just
dumps down into the bowl and oftentimes it doesn't clear the poop.
That flush mechanism is quite a sophisticated device in spite of its
apparent simplicity. I had tried all kinds of water saver ideas of my
own invention. Basically any interference with it operation of the
flush mechanism degrades its operation significantly, aka it wastes
water.
My current water saver technique is to fill a water jug from the
shower faucet and use that to flush small amounts of pee. The tank's
water level is lower than max. If there is a heroic load of poop I
use the jug of water to give the full flush a boost.
Anthony Matonak
...
> My current water saver technique is to fill a water jug from the
> shower faucet and use that to flush small amounts of pee. The tank's
> water level is lower than max. If there is a heroic load of poop I
> use the jug of water to give the full flush a boost.
My current water saver technique is to realize that saving a
gallon or two a week not flushing the toilet is a drop in the
bucket compared to one drunk driver knocking over a fire hydrant.
We would do better knocking over drunks who try to drive, turning
off sprinklers that have been run over by lawn mowers and getting
the local farmer to use a few million less gallons this month.
Anthony
PaPaPeng
For many of us it less of a tree hugger mentality than one of the
water bill. My toilet flushes four gallons a pull. Go from there.
My lawn is full of crab grass, or at least the low maintenance grass
the city uses for its parks and schoolfields and doesn't need any
watering.
Sgt.Sausage
"PaPaPeng" <PaPa...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:9j3df2lifbbdhvsv9...@4ax.com...
My grandma had a saying:
" If it's yellow, let it mellow
If it's brown, flush it down"
Seems like a good idea to save on water ... that is if you
don't mind the bathroom smelling of urine all the time.
Me, I don't follow grandma's old saying. I don't like
my bathroom to stink.
If the weather's nice I walk out behind the barn and take a
leak on the compost heap. Urine (unless your sick) is basically
sterile, and it adds one heaping kick of the old Nitrogen
to the season's compost.
val189
PaPaPeng wrote:
> My current water saver technique is to fill a water jug from the
> shower faucet
You mean you're not reusing water you could catch somehow during the
shower? : ))
Seems like someone in this group was catching shower water in a couple
of buckets for flushing.
I switched to choice-of-flush toilets ($325, installed) and consumption
is down. We prob. had a small leak, along with a huge flush. Plus,
now I don't have to stand around to see if it'll shut itself off.
Worth the money.
PaPaPeng
wrote:
>If the weather's nice I walk out behind the barn and take a
>leak on the compost heap. Urine (unless your sick) is basically
>sterile, and it adds one heaping kick of the old Nitrogen
>to the season's compost.
You are right about fresh urine not having any smell. I pee often
enough to mini flush the old stuff out before bacteria gets much of
a chance to break down urea into ammonia. One of these days I am
going to attach a small foot operated spout to squirt water into the
bowl for a mini pee flush. I think I will get that squirt to include
a small dose of bleach too. Bleach should neutralize the urea and
ammonia as well as keep the bowl china clean.
Chloe
Sorry, but based on simple experience I'm not buying the story about urine
not having any odor. That said, if you think chlorine will keep everything
sparking fresh, you can buy tablets containing it to put in your tank. At
least here in the U.S. we can.
I don't like to odor from those, either, but it's not as bad as stale
buildup of urine.
hchi...@hotmail.com
>You are right about fresh urine not having any smell. I pee often
>enough to mini flush the old stuff out before bacteria gets much of
>a chance to break down urea into ammonia. One of these days I am
>going to attach a small foot operated spout to squirt water into the
>bowl for a mini pee flush. I think I will get that squirt to include
>a small dose of bleach too. Bleach should neutralize the urea and
>ammonia as well as keep the bowl china clean.
I've heard it said that the French don't have the gene needed to be
able to smell asparagus in pee. Parle-vous-francais?
Chlorine and ammonia, yada yada, etc.
PaPaPeng
>
>Sorry, but based on simple experience I'm not buying the story about urine
>not having any odor.
This is more likely diet related as in having a meat rich diet. The
proteins break down into amino acids that metabolize into amides and
eventually urea. The amides are what makes carnivore poop stink.
Pure carnivores had to evolve the response to bury their poop and of
course poop away from their liar least the smell leads other predators
to their cubs.
hchi...@hotmail.com
>On Thu, 31 Aug 2006 23:34:30 GMT, "Chloe" <just...@spam.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>Sorry, but based on simple experience I'm not buying the story about urine
>>not having any odor.
>
>
>This is more likely diet related as in having a meat rich diet.
Asparagus is an animal??? Who woulda thunk?
>The
>proteins break down into amino acids that metabolize into amides and
>eventually urea. The amides are what makes carnivore poop stink.
>Pure carnivores had to evolve the response to bury their poop and of
>course poop away from their liar least the smell leads other predators
>to their cubs.
Poop away from their liar?
PaPaPeng
>Poop away from their liar?
Aaaarrrgggh. Two finger typing. I never learned to touch type.
What is this asparagus link to poop smells?
hchi...@hotmail.com
>On Fri, 01 Sep 2006 13:58:59 GMT, hchi...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
>>Poop away from their liar?
>
>
>Aaaarrrgggh. Two finger typing. I never learned to touch type.
I took typing in high school. Got up to a blistering twenty wpm, (my
nerves crossfire when I try to use my fingers at high speed) and then
promptly forgot all I knew. When computers started to become
available, I took some of that skill and learned how to five and a
half finger type. (Look at a keyboard and see how the left hand gets
the common e t a s and f keys, while the right hand hits less common
letters and only needs the third finger for l p . ? "' and sometimes
o.) It is faster and a little more accurate than two finger typing,
but a lot less tiring than full touch typing, since the pinkies aren't
involved and the thumbs just hit the spacebar. I also use a two
finger typing style on the number pad, which allows me to switch off
if one finger gets tired.
My father also used to use a variant typing method. He never used the
1 key in the upper left of the keyboard, always substituting a capital
I instead. You'll notice that the 1 key is the hardest for a touch
typist to hit on a manual keyboard, and for anyone who has to type a
lot of numbers on one, it can get painful fast and damage the finger.
Anyway, there are certain combinations of letters that often get
transposed while typing. In my experience, it gets worse with age.
>What is this asparagus link to poop smells?
Dunno why, but it becomes pervasive in the body. If you eat
asparagus, others can often smell it in your breath, sweat, pee, poo,
etc.
Bob
"AYBABTU" <geo...@humboldt1.com> wrote in message
news:georgek-BCA661...@sn-ip.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net...
> If you put enough weight on the flapper , you'll have to hold the handle
> down longer to flush "solids" i.e. it defaults to a urine flush.
It seems like many low-flush toilets use a heavier flapper with an additional
float on the pull cord that drops it early as the water level drops unless
you hold the handle down. I see no reason one of thos flapper rigs
wouldn't work in older toilets.
Bob