Making a More Efficient Toilet

Here in the Starosta household, we have a lovely, ancient, throne.  It is by no means an efficient flusher, but it has served us well and a new commode would run at least $100.  This morning, I went on a mission to conserve water and our Water & sewage bills. 

Step #1: Overcoming my fear of the toilet tank. 

 

Isn't it gross? Of course, it's gross from a build up of minerals from SWPA's lovely hard water and nothing more.  Grit my teeth and carry on. 

Step #2: Get an idea of how much water it is currently using. 

As I Understand it, there is no good (free) way to do this.  Instead, to measure my improvements, I will time how long each flush takes.  From the moment I pull the handle until the water stops running is 1 min. 28 sec.

Step #3: Adjust the Spring Clip on the Refill Valve

 

At the very left of the tank is an arm with a wire on it.  On that arm is a clip.  The farther down on the wire that clip is, the less water will enter the tank at each refill.  Mine didn't go easily, but it did go down. 

 

Note the difference in the water lines?  It went from a flush time of 1:28 to a fill time of 1:07, a 24% decrease. 

Step #3: Take up the Space:

I was reading about a week ago about putting a jar of rocks in the tank to take up room and making it think its fuller than it is.  Then, when researching more closely I read about putting a half gallon full of water in the tank.  It is bigger and no glass to worry about. 

It looked like it might have enough room to hold a gallon, but I tried and it was just a tad too big.  I'm gonna keep looking for something bigger, but in the mean time, this will do.  New Flush time: 57 seconds, 64% of the old time. 

Mission: Accomplished.  Happy flushing!

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