Dual-flush toilets are disastrous - official

[John Stumbles]

Yes. Anyone who had their head down the hole in the road the meter was installed in.

[Graham.]

Martin Pentreath isn't exactly a new name on this group and I don't recall him ever posting anything dodgy

He headed his OP Dual-flush toilets are disastrous - official, so what were you expecting?

He posted the full URL, not a snipped one.

Come on Mary, live a little dangerously! How on earth do you browse the WWW if you need the credentials of each button on a web page before you dare click it.

[Ian White]

Yes. One morning we had a phone call from Thames Water: "We were reading your meter at 1:30 last night, and noticed it was slowly going round. Did you know that something is using water overnight?"

Actually we did know (pinhole leak through the coil inside the HW cylinder, causing a slow drip from the CH overflow) but top marks anyway to TW.

Now about that bloody reservoir...

[Mary Fisher]

Ours is at eye level in the pantry, it has a hinged flap which is often closed - because I look at the dial more often than Spouse :-) - so isn't always visible to the casual eye. However, the ticking noise which even I can hear would alert anyone to a problem, I'd have thought. Unless water is being used for washing the tick rate is very slow.

Mary

[Matty F]

My water company is the opposite - completely hopeless. The little hands used to go around OK, but the numbers that registered whole cubic metres didn't change at all. I thought I'd see how long they would take to notice the zero reading. After about 6 readings 18 months later they noticed and replaced the meter, and added 20 cubic metres to the final reading withot telling me. After a few readings of the new meter they misread the reading so that it looked like I'd used 1000 litres in 3 months. I got a phone call from a suspicious guy wondering why the reading was so low. They probably think I am sabotaging their meters, but I'm not, honest!

[David Hansen]

On Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:29:33 GMT someone who may be John Stumbles wrote this:-

To be precise they offer two sorts of flush. One is dual flush and one is triple flush. Fitted to a six litre flush toilet that presumably means the lowest flush is around three litres I guess, perhaps less than 3 litres for the triple flush. Sounds like a small amount of flush to me.

Tough that is nothing to do with whether a siphon mechanism will work with small amounts of flush.

The leading lights of the Earthship are largely of the female persuasion.

[David Hansen]

On Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:30:27 GMT someone who may be John Stumbles wrote this:-

Only until little bits of brick get into the mechanism. Plastic bottles are better.

[Mary Fisher]

Do you mean 'it' doesn't look like the old fashioned innefficient ones?

Nobody persuaded me to be female - I had no choice :-)

Mary

[The Natural Philosopher]

They all say that.

[John Stumbles]

Maybe we're talking at cross-purposes here.

You (David Hansen) posted a link to a Screwfix cistern flush valve (syphon type). Screwfix's description is "Replacement toilet siphon with adjustable flush volume (6, 7 and 9 litre) ..."

I pointed out that it's not a dual-flush syphon. I know, I've fitted them. The "adjustable flush volume" they mention is acheived by removing plugs in the plastic bell moulding and is done on installation, to suit the flush volume to the type of WC so that the valve can be used with older

9-litre flush pans and newer 7 and 6-litre flush pans. Once you've done this you get the same flush volume each time.

They do /not/ offer "two sorts of flush ... dual flush and ... triple flush", (whatever that means).

[David Hansen]

On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:17:05 GMT someone who may be John Stumbles wrote this:-

Bricks slowly break up, allowing little bits of brick to grind their way into the moving and non-moving bits. While there are bricks and bricks, the sort of brick people will have lying in their garden is unlikely to be particularly hard.

It is best to dissuade people from damaging their toilets with this unsound idea. They should either use a purpose made item like the Hippo or plastic bottles, though they should note the restriction on the Hippo web site regarding cistern size.

Even better the aforementioned Variflush where I don't see a restriction on the size of cistern it can be fitted to.

[David Hansen]

On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:25:16 GMT someone who may be John Stumbles wrote this:-

I'm not. With the links I have posted I have demonstrated that siphon mechanisms can be used for small amounts of flush. It should be fairly clear that something like a three litre flush is no great problem with a siphon.

The assertion I was responding to was that, "small amounts of flush are quite hard to achieve with a siphon system."

[Andy Hall]

Even better still, don't do either because it isn't necessary or even desirable.

[dennis]

You put the brick in a plastic bag.

[The Medway Handyman]

Quite right. We are an island. We are surrounded by water. Poo needs to be flushed away.

[Andy Hall]

Exactly.

I wonder what triple flush implies. I can understand the (somewhat misguided) attempt to have different flush volumes for No. 1 and No. 2, although having the button labeled for each would be useful. However, I wonder what No. 3 is. Perhaps it's a specially quiet version for cases of extreme hangover and the need to say hello to Hughie on the porcelain telephone.

[David Hansen]

On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:52:20 GMT someone who may be "The Medway Handyman" wrote this:-

That is what was thought in Victorian times. They tried it out with the sewerage system in London. It didn't work and had to introduce sewage treatment works into the system.

The dilution theory is now discredited in just about every field.

[The Medway Handyman]

Flushed away as in flushed away from the WC pan, not talking about sewage systems.

[John]

My "Allia" siphon had a plug that I removed to make it dual flush.

The hole creates a siphon break by allowing air to enter after a few litres have passed - unless you hold the handle down so that a piston covers the hole - in this case it gives a full flush

[cynic]