Toilet design - national preferences

Travelling in the USA at the moment and the toilets over here are different from those in the UK but reasonably consistent.

Firstly they are a much shallower pan than the average UK bog, and secondly they are generally viciously siphonic.

In general terms I think I prefer them. Any delicate souls should look away now :-) . . . . . . . Firstly the broad shallow pan eliminates the "long drop" of the average UK pan and also avoids the large splash you tend to get when you deposit something impressive. The only down side is the habit of something floating into view between your legs as you sit there contemplating life.

Secondly, the extra water held in the pan assists in the cleansing of the toilet bowl when you flush. This, coupled with the strong siphonic action, seems to generally clear the bowl effectively. However the siphonic flush is very aggressive - a fierce jet of water seems to be shot across the U bend which rips the contents of the pan away down the pipe work accompanied by a large roaring noise. This can be quite alarming where there is an automatic flush which attempts to detect when you have finished and avoid the necessity of you touching any handle or button. Especially alarming when you haven't even started ;-)

So why are toilets so different in the USA? I suspect that they use more water in the pan, and so may fall foul of some old water board regulation. I suspect that the syphonic part may use mains pressure water, again falling foul. However they do seem to be a better overall design than the UK ones in terms of efficiently removing crap.

The more mature and well travelled will probably also remember the French Colonial style of toilet which consists of a hole in the ground and a pair of porcelain footprints. These never seemed to catch on in the UK. They are probably also much better for you physically as they are closer to the natural way of doing things if you don't have modern plumbing. Less comfortable though, if you are catching up on the back issues of the Times.

So is there a good reason why our toilet pans are designed the way they are, and not like those in other countries, or is this just some kind of random variation?

Quite tempted by the US style toilet but I suspect that they wouldn't meet current UK regulations. I say this because I think they directly use mains pressure water and I seem to recall that this is banned (or was at one time) in most parts of the UK which insisted on cisterns to control water usage.

Amazing what your mind turns to late at night in a foreign country.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David WE Roberts
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Yes. I have used loos as you describe in the States. Being naturally inquisitive, I lifted the cistern lid on one and was surprised to see a round metal canister with domed ends in there - there was no visible stored water. I presumed that mains water pressure refilled the canister after a flush and that created a vacuum that was released when the flush was operated. As you say - the removal of waste from the bowl was rapid and very noisy!

When I got home I did a bit of Googling to try and learn more. I couldn't find anything at all - although I haven't looked recently.

I completely replaced my bathroom a couple of years ago and made the mistake of choosing the toilet from a showroom brochure. It was a 'Nocode Igloo' and looks very modern and smart - rather 'egg shaped' and with no gap at the back so no waste pipes or water pipe on view.

The problem is that as you look into the bowl, the water trap is in the centre (rather than at the back of the bowl), and is very small. In order to ensure that waste drops into the water (rather than onto the porcelain) you have to sit very far forward - and even then you often have to use the brush after use. A superb design on the outside - a terrible design on the inside!

Sorry if I've put anyone off their breakfast...!

Reply to
Ret.

Just done another Google and come across this:

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old pipes are your problem, you may be interested in the power-assist toilets that many toilet makers now offer. These are toilets that use compressed air to force the waste down the trap.

Although a few power-assist toilets require compressors, most use the pressure of the home's water supply to get the job done-with the help of a pressure tank. The Sloan Valve Company's Flushmate Flushometer (800-533-3450) is the industry leader in toilet pressure tanks. New on the market is the PF/2 Energizer System (W/C Technology Corp.; 888-732-9282).

Both work similarly: Water from the supply line is forced into the air-filled pressure tank at the house pressure of 60 psi or so, which compresses the air and exerts force on the water in the tank. When the flush button is pushed, the water jets into the bowl.

One benefit of a power-assist flush is that the water is contained inside the pressure tank, which is inside the china toilet tank. That insulation results in little or no tank sweating. Drawbacks include noise and price: Power assist generally adds $ 100 or so to the cost of a toilet.

Water rushing from the pressurized tank can be quite loud and startling. However, Bruce Martin, the engineer who developed both pressure-assist systems (he sold the Flushmate technology to Sloan), said his new PF/2 Energizer is much quieter than the Flushmate. "It's as quiet as a gravity toilet," he said.

Currently, only about 5% of toilets sold contain any type of pressure tank. Martin said the price of power-assist toilets will decrease, thanks in part to competition and volume sales. For now, only specially designed toilets can accept pressure-assist units. Martin is working on an adapter unit to convert ordinary gravity toilets to pressure-assist.

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So there we go - you learn something new every day!

Reply to
Ret.

And even more information, for anyone remotely interested (!), here:

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Reply to
Ret.

Could it be to do with the fact that your average US citizen has the equivalent output of the average UK family ? ;-)

Reply to
Andy Cap

For some values of better?

I have not spent much time in the USA but agree with most of what you say. However I would offer the thought that I recall many US TV programmes/films in which toilet plungers feature. I cannot recall ever seeing one feature in a British programme/film. This bears out my limited experience: I have never had a bog block in Britain as a result of normal (or indeed abnormal) bodily crap. I have had to use a plunger in New York (in a fairly plush Upper East Side apartment with modern plumbing).

That said, the design of US bogs does seem to lend itself to effective use of plungers so perhaps they come out on top after all.

Reply to
Robin

What, scraping turds out of your trousers is good for you? The French might think it's OK to squat in the corner of a field, but I'll remain seated throughout the performance, thank you.

Reply to
Huge

For some values of better?

I have not spent much time in the USA but agree with most of what you say. However I would offer the thought that I recall many US TV programmes/films in which toilet plungers feature. I cannot recall ever seeing one feature in a British programme/film. This bears out my limited experience: I have never had a bog block in Britain as a result of normal (or indeed abnormal) bodily crap. I have had to use a plunger in New York (in a fairly plush Upper East Side apartment with modern plumbing).

That said, the design of US bogs does seem to lend itself to effective use of plungers so perhaps they come out on top after all.

Reply to
DerbyBoy

As an obvious afficionado of such matters, you should really try to take a trip to Japan, then. Having had the opportunity to travel there last year, naturally enough I photographed a toilet (as you do):

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khazis are a truly fascinating experience... you can probably see just below the rim at the back there are two little nozzles, which aim water jets upwards and forwards, in slightly different directions in order to target different bodily orifices (and they are uncannily accurate, as SWMBO confirms) as you can see from looking at the different 'spray' icons on the control panel buttons (yes, honestly - sitting on this thing is like piloting the Starship Enterprise)...

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other controls - the one on the far left is to adjust the power of the water jets; others are for water temperature, electrically-heated seat temperature, the hot-air drier, and the motor which raises and lowers the seat (oh yes, really)... Other features you often get include a slot to insert an SD card, so you can crap along to Black Sabbath or the Nolan Sisters as the mood takes you.

Also of interest is the top of the cistern, where you can just see a vertical tube: this is actually a tap; when you flush the toilet, the clean water comes out of the tap and into the basin formed from the cistern lid, whereupon it runs into the cistern to flush the toilet - so the water coming out of the tap is used for washing your hands before it is used to flush with. Quite ingenious, both in terms of saving water and space.

Bit worried about the bonding cable just lying on the floor, wired into the toilet but not connected anywhere else - however a very common sight in Japan.

David

Reply to
Lobster

My strangest toilet was the one in my German apartment in the 1970s. It had a ledge, with the water outlet at the front of the ledge. So everything you "did" first landed on the ledge. This was apparently designed so that you could check for blood and thereby pre-empt any serious medical condition. (The Germans were/are extremely finickety about their health.) That design seems to have vanished now, since all the German houses I frequent nowadays have a "normal" UK-style toilet bowl.

MM

Reply to
MM

I don't know WHY people are so precious when it comes to discussing bodily functions. The other day I read that many parents don't want their young children to be taught sex education in schools, and I think, man, such stupid people don't deserve to be parents.

MM

Reply to
MM

Another thing I don't understand is why modern technology has not yet come up with a way of having crap eat itself inside the bowels, leaving just a small, dry, powdery residue - about a teaspoonful a day, maybe, that you would "fart" out in specially designed "fart" rooms as a modern replacement for toilets. There'd be a powerful fan to suck up, then disperse the powder over your garden - or the neighbour's garden after suitable contracts had been exchanged.

Why we can have (if we have the money) pretty much anything we want, we still need to go every day. Madness.

MM

Reply to
MM

Actually, given the German consumption of pork, it was so you could check for worms.

Reply to
Huge

One of these?

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Reply to
ARWadsworth

Reply to
Bernard Peek

Reminds me of standing in a posh hotel[1] loo in Boston when a man comes in with a toddler and very loudly states "Now son learn the first rule of the men's room: don't touch anything which isn't yours".

[1] I was only using the facilities, not staying there
Reply to
Robin

Reply to
Andy Dingley

However that reticence, and its own origins, is also more likely to have made them parents in the first place.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

I want one of those for our outside loo. Anyone know of a source?

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Friend of mine (French) is after one of these for UK installation. Anyone have a source?

Reply to
Andy Dingley

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