By: AJ McCreary, PICurrent Assistant Producer
Courtesy of D. Muth
Saving money while saving the earth is not a bad combination. One new way of doing that is a toilet exchange. I know, sounds somewhat gross. But it’s not!
A toilet exchange is where residents can get a new low-flow toilet for free, usually by bringing proof of residency (water bill, or drivers license). After the new toilet is installed most programs expect recipients to bring their old toilets in to be recycled.
A low flow toilet looks just like a regular or traditional toilet, But it uses only 1.6 gallons per flush (GPF). Low-flow toilets have been around for over ten years, slowly recovering from a bad reputation for not doing their job. With time and technology, low-flow toilets now outshine traditional water guzzling toilets.
But what if you can’t find a toilet exchange? I have an easy and cheap solution to make your old school toilet more environmentally friendly and save you some green.
- Take an empty half gallon plastic jug, fill with rocks or water, replace cap, its ready to be installed into your toilet tank.
- Flush the toilet, and when the water is low put the jug in the empty space.
- Make sure you do not cover the flap, and that the jug is not in the way of the mechanics that make your toilet flush.
Bam, now you have a low-flow toilet!
For more information:
Low Flow toilets
Bathroom Humor
Water Conservation
Putting the jug of rocks or water in the tank really does work. You can also just put a few bricks, as it does the same thing by lowering the amount of space the water needs to fill in the tank.
Good post!
1. A regular toilet is not designed to flush paper and solid waste with reduced amounts of water, so the likelihood of clogging or having to flush twice increases. If you are serious about saving water, want a toilet that really works and is affordable, I would highly recommend a Caroma Dual Flush toilet. Caroma toilets offer a patented dual flush technology consisting of a 0.8 Gal flush for liquid waste and a 1.6 Gal flush for solids. Caroma, an Australian company set the standard by giving the world its first successful two button dual flush system in the nineteen eighties and has since perfected the technology. Also, with a full 3.5” trapway, these toilets virtually never clog. All of Caroma’s toilets are on the list of WaterSense labeled HET’s http://www.epa.gov/watersense/pp/find_het.htm and also qualify for several rebate programs currently available as well as LEED points. Please go to http://www.caromausa.com for more detailed information or visit http://www.ecotransitions.com/howto.asp to see how we flush a potato with the half flush (0.8 gallons), meant for liquid waste. To learn more about toilets you can also visit my blog http://pottygirl.wordpress.com/. Best regards, Andrea Paulinelli
Thanks for the input. When I was reseaching this topic, I learned that experts caution puttting rocks or bricks uncovered into the tank becasue it can casue damage to the porcelin or enamal. A jug of rocks would be fine but avoid loose objescts. Thanks again for your input!
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