Are you one of 28 million Americans whose toilet clogs each month? - Biard & Crockett

Are you one of 28 million Americans whose toilet clogs each month?

Don’t get clogged up like 28 million Americans

As silent sentinels of civilization, toilets are one of life’s little necessities.  When working properly they are frequently ignored.  However if you have one that doesn’t adequately perform the job it was designed to do it can be a constant source of frustration and even embarrassment.  Even though dinner party chit-chat about developments in toilet technology is not often an appropriate topic of conversation, there have been a myriad of improvements made.  A survey conducted by Kohler found that 270 out of 1,000 adults claim to experience a toilet clog each month.  That translates to 28 million clogged American toilets per month!

In 1994 the allowable gallon/flush rate was brought down to 1.6 and frankly those first generation toilets were bad.  Nearly everyone complained about the anemic performance of toilets manufactured in the mid to late nineties.  As a result customers and even some trade professionals are still wary of “water saving” toilets.  Eventually technology caught up and by the turn of the century there were several models that were adequately getting the job done.

The inefficiency of a 1.28 gallon flush

The current allowable gallon/flush rate is 1.28 and there are many (some better than others) models from which to choose.  Manufacturers learned their lesson from 1994 and were ready for the 2014 mandates.  The efficiency of a flush is usually measured in grams of the “maximum performance” (MaP) and most toilets will be between 250g and 1,000g.  Unfortunately this only measures the ability of the toilet to remove the solid waste out of the toilet bowl.  There are other factors to consider.  How well the bowl is rinsed and more importantly how much “carry” does the flush provide.  Virtually none of the current toilets rinse the bowl like the old 3.5 or more gal/flush models did.  The days of several “swirls” around the bowl during the flush are gone.  How far the flush will “carry” the solid waste is very important.  Evacuating 1,000 grams of waste out of the bowl ceases to be impressive if it all stays within a few feet of the toilet and clogs your line.  This is especially a concern if you have an older sewer system (prior to 1970) as the older piping systems did not flow as well as the newer versions  Additional factors including proximity of other fixtures can have a bearing on “carry” as well.  We have several of the better flushing and better “carry” models on working displays so you can see the flush for yourself.

The trend is to try and lower gal/flush even more and toilets with 1.0 and .8 models are already available.  As people get more comfortable with the new technology the 1.6 gallon toilet will soon become what the old 5 and 3.5 gallon models are today…nobody will even make one. 

Biard & Crocket provides expert drain cleaning and plumbing services in Orange County, CA. Give us a call anytime you need a skilled plumber.

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