Toilet flush using too much water

[Corbett and Kerri]

I've closely observed my toilet and it is using too much water per flush. I watched the meter outside while my son flushed the toilet and it used 6 gallons rather than the 1.6 gallons it should! Prior to flushing and after the bowl is filled there is no movement at the meter so I know it isn't leaking. After watching it flush I've noticed the flapper takes a long time before it closes. I've adjusted the chain float only to find it doesn't make a difference. There seems to be water and/or bubbles coming up through the drain hole in the tank and it keeps the flapper open for a long period of time. Only after about 30 seconds does the flap close and begin filling the tank again. What can be done to resolve this? Where could the water or bubbles be coming from?

[hrhofmann]

is your meter in gallons or Cu feet??? For a toilet to use 4x as much water, it would flood your bathroom.

[beecrofter]

Lose the float and hold the lever down for the flush, the flapper will drop almost as fast as you let go.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Why? The toilet has a drain and as long as water runs, it will drain. Aside from the 1.6 gallon used in a flush, the bowl also has more capacity.

If the flapper is staying open, the fill will just keep dumping water down the hole, into the bowl and down the drain. The OP has to find what is causing it to hang up or replace it completely.

[hrhofmann]

Is this something new, or is it a new toilet, or what?

[Evan]

@Corbett and Kerri:

Is your toilet new or an older one ?

Replacing the flapper and fill valve in an older toilet won't make it use

1.6 gpf...

Sounds to me like you are reading something wrong, as you would need a REALLY large pipe to be using 6 gallons in 30 seconds of hang time...

Are you absolutely certain that nothing else connected to the water was operating when you were checking the meter ?

~~ Evan

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, You found what is wrong right here. Flapper is not moving free.

[Eddie]

Save water, shower with a friend! Although, the neighbors husband wasn't happy when his wife said she was trying to save water.

[mike]

Don't some flappers have a water counterbalance to hold the flapper open. Water drains out thru a hole until it gets light enough to let the flapper flip shut. Maybe the hole is plugged?

12 GPM does sound excessive.

I'd run two experiments.

1) Hold the float until the tank drains and the flapper closes. Then measure the amount of water to fill the tank. If there's a path around the flapper during the fill, like there is in my old toilet, that volume may be set way too high.

2) Close the source valve to reduce the flow during the fill. That should reduce the amount flowing thru the open flapper.

The results of those two experiments may help you discover the discrepancy.

[Corbett and Kerri]

terdrains out thru a hole until it gets light enough to let the

hat volume may be set waytoohigh.

I've performed similar experiments:

1. Water source valve turned off, the toilet flushes normally.
2. Adjust the float too high and the flapper closes within 5 seconds. It never has enough time for the siphon to start but it shows that the flap moves freely.

There is some sort of backflow coming up through the drain that is keeping the flapper open for an longer than normal time. The bubbles coming up through the drain hole don't start until the siphon process has begun. Based on all of this, I'm thinking the toilet is clogged causing the refill water to backup and keep the flapper open. I guess it's time for a new toilet.

[mike]

open.Waterdrains out thru a hole until it gets light enough to let the

volume may be set waytoohigh.

How much longer???? You're losing 4.4 gallons. Seems like that oughta be an obviously LONG time. Most homes have at least two toilets that can be compared to determine the difference.

The bubbles

Replacement seems a bit extreme. Why not try to fix the clog first?

The bowl part of a toilet oughta be one of the highest reliability devices in the home.

[bob haller]

muriatic acid as sold in stores is pretty benign.......

give the toilet a good acid bath which will improve its flushing too:)

[marcyvolk]

This happened to me when my husband changed the flapper....what he also did was turn the water on to the toilet at almost fully open.....I turned down the water to the toilet and presto....my problem was fixed.....

[Stormin Mormon]

the flapper....what he also did was turn the water on to the toilet at almost fully open..... I turned down the water to the toilet and presto....my problem was fixed.....

Think of all the water wasted since Oct 21, 2011! Curses on you for waiting so long to reply.

- . Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus

.

[trader_4]

How far opened the supply valve is should have very little effect on the water used per flush. If anything, I would think having the supply valve partly closed could increase the water used. While it's filling some water is sent down the overflow tube to help completely fill the bowl. The longer it takes to fill the tank, the longer that water is going down the overflow tube and once the bowl is full, it's going down the sewer. With the valve partially closed, that flow rate is reduced too, but I would think it still could wind up using more if the tank takes a long time to fill. But overall, I don't see a way that choking off the supply line saves water per flush.

[micky]

Did you use that much, 6 gallons? Did you look at the meter or you just heard it run a long time. If looking at the meter, how long did it take to see 6 gallos roll by?

Yes, but it's going at a lower rate. I do this all the time, so the toilet won't make noise, and at valve settings close to closed, it barely dribbles into the bowl during refill.

Alas, I posted my paragraph too soon.

I don't think so. In addition, the OP said 6 gallons but the 2nd P is the one who said turning the valve partly closed saved water. We don't know how much extra the 2P is using.

How one could possibly use 6 gallons in a flush, I do not know, unless the OP waited 20 minutes while the flapper leaked. .

[oldeddie78]

Problem is the flush valve. Go to Ace, Home depot, Lowe's or any hardware s tore and buy a replacement valve with an adjustment that allows you to adju st how much water is emptied with each flush. I had the same problem, compl etely emptying the tank each flush. Make sure you buy the valve with the ad justable disc flapper. On position one, no water is flushed and on highest position it empties the tank. I think mine is set to # 3 position. Talk to a clerk knowledgeable about plumbing, he will assist you in getting the rig ht part and install and adjust it per directions on the package. Piece of c ake.

[Tony944]

Problem is the flush valve. Go to Ace, Home depot, Lowe's or any hardware store and buy a replacement valve with an adjustment that allows you to adjust how much water is emptied with each flush. I had the same problem, completely emptying the tank each flush. Make sure you buy the valve with the adjustable disc flapper. On position one, no water is flushed and on highest position it empties the tank. I think mine is set to # 3 position. Talk to a clerk knowledgeable about plumbing, he will assist you in getting the right part and install and adjust it per directions on the package. Piece of cake.

It all depend on your toilet and manufacture, most toilets have float that is adjustable However plumbing is also factor of original piping, doing the flush does it have surges to pull the dirt out of bowl down the drain, and you may have to flush twice instead of once. There are two factors one is total tank capacity and the other after, how long it takes to fill the tank. If there no surges to empty bowl the longer it will take to fill tank.