Pressure Assisted Toilets

[BradMM]

I posted about this some time back. We had the house secured with piers but but raised as this would have been more expensive and would have possibly caused damage to the house. As it is, the outside brick is not cracked and the sheetrock is intact so we decided to leave well enough alone.

The only problem is that we do have a sag in our sewer line under the house as a result of settling. The toilet works fine most of the time and I have to clear the line periodically as a part of routine maintenance. Since the toilet is emptying into standing water so it's having to displace water, I was wondering if a pressure assisted toilet might work better. The toilet always flushes slowly and it's in our guest bath, also my wife's bath the rest of the time.

I was thinking that a higher tank would create more pressure during the flush because of the higher elevation of the water level but maybe the pressure assisted would be even better.

What do you think?

BradMM

[BradMM]

Sorry, can't edit my typos! We didn't have it raised, only stabilized, with piers.

[Speedy Jim]

Doubt it. Any velocity increase in the tloilet bowl will likely be lost as the waste traverses the length of the bhouse sewer.

Is this a slab house with the house sewer running down the middle?

Here's a low-budget experiment. Often, the new soft toilet papers "clump up" in low spots. If you suspect that may be happening, switch to old "scratchy" stuff for a few weeks.

After that, I would be looking for ways to re-route the sewer beyond the slab perimeter if possible.

Jim

[BradMM]

Yes, this is a 80's house built on a slab and the problem line runs underneath. We had a camera run down the line so it's not roots, just the sag.

After clearing the line yesterday, the problem persisted so I think there's a clog between the bowl and the line. I was just going to buy a snake and clean it out. THEN I got to thinking about the pressure assist. I think my wife would like the higher seat (like we used to have) so I may at least just replace the toilet with the higher seat and, as a result, higher tank (I assume). Of course, at .433 psi per foot of elevation change, it might not make much difference. Maybe I'll stick with the quick and dirty fix... get the snake!

Thanks for the reply!

[BradMM]

Didn't work. I gotta pull the thing out to see what's blocking it. I thought about replacing the toilet since I have to take it off anyway but, with this problem, I hate to go from 4 gal/flush to 1.6 gal/ flush! I think it might make my problem worse.

[Art]

I can tell you that the pressure assisted with the Sloan valve flush really well but they can detect back pressure and if they think something is wrong they stop flushing mid flush. Excellent feature to prevent overflows but in your case it might prevent them from flushing unless you get the water out of your pipe.