want a toilet cistern that fills underwater

[reellifetv]

I'm about to replace my toilet. The old cistern (Italian, expensive,

20 years old) had a little tube inside that meant it refilled underwater, rather than pouring water into the tank as most toilets do. **Much** quieter.

None of the toilets I've looked at recently seem to have this feature. Do they still exist, or have they been banned by building regs etc? Does anyone know where I can get one?

Many thanks,

Chris

[david lang]

That would mean no air gap, which in theory could lead to back syphonage. Pretty sure that contravines water authority regs. Some wather authorities don't even allow double check valves.

[John]

I believe the Titanic has a few that fill underwater left over ;-)

HTH

John

[sPoNiX]

The problem is that the stagnant water in the cistern could theoretically be syphoned back into the water supply.

I *think* I have seen cysterns fitted with some sort of polythene tube that quietens the flow of water...worth asking in your local posh cistern shop, I suppose.

sponix

[emma]

erm you don't mean a torbeck valve with a polythene tube that the water runs down from the top?. B & Q etc. have them. Or you could get a fluidmaster valve which I have found (having developed a recent interest in toilet valves while refurbing a bathroom) to be very quiet. Also B & Q etc, easy to fit too..I believe they do a whisper quiet one but I have the normal one and its pretty quiet.

[Christian McArdle]

Yes, you can get them, no problem. You have a choice of two designs.

1. The Fluidmaster or clone. These use a tower with a float that slides up them. They pass water much more quickly than a ball valve, so a straight swap ends up with a system that is still noisy, but fills in about 5 or 10 seconds (assuming mains fill). You can swap this behaviour for a slower and much quieter fill by turning down the isolator valve. Very easy to find.
2. A standard ball valve with a plastic anti-syphon tube. This appears to be what you are already familiar with. Harder to locate, generally.

Christian.

[The Natural Philosopher]

My latest from Bathstore does precisely that.

Although the little tube is simply a long polythene bag clamped over the end It also has a flow restrict or in it to limit the flow rate. Its very quiet, and built with all the lack of ruggedness that only 3 decades of marketing can bring to the design process.

[Jim Gregory]

Pretty but illegal. Whenever some reservoir has to be filled (direct off main supply), gravity-fed, there must be a gap, to prevent siphonage to pollute the supply, even if incoming pressure is higher. An exception is the bottom-filling mode of copper HW cylinder with cold, but that is always fed off a tank. The hot water comes out of the dome. Usually, this cylinder is always full, whatever the temp In my cisterns, the filler spouts near the ball-c*ck valve have a pendant soft-polythene tube which "cocoons" the falling water, making filling quiet noiseless. Jim

[John Stumbles]

Torbecks have the polythene tube, but you can DIY with a bit of plastic overflow pipe taped (not airtightly) to hang below the discharge spout of a standard diaphragm valve and conduct the water quietly down into the cistern

[Geo]

So it depends if the cistern is fed direct from the main or from the storage tank. Don't think the OP stated his source.

Geo

[reellifetv]

Mains fed cistern.

Looks like I should stay with my existing loo I guess.

Thanks for all the advice guys!