Toilets and more

Low Flow Toilets, Dual Flush Toilets and more

2009-09-18T15:59:00.000-07:00

Modernization of the toilet has brought about some new environmentally friendly changes. Today's emphasis on being more green has brought water conservation to forefront of toilet designs. The first 1.6 gallon per flush low flow toilet appeared on the scene in mid 90s. Unfortunately these toilets were very faulty. So faulty that many people claim they had to flush twice to remove all the waist. Which meant the toilet supposed low flow toilet was now using 3.2 gallons per flush, which is very far from water conserving. Toilet manufacturers knew they had to start developing fully functional low flow toilets. Within time many manufacturers had their own version of a fully functional low flow toilet.

A few of the models introduced that have reportedly performed well are dual flush toilets, composting toilets, and ultra low flow toilets. The composting toilet which saves the most water uses close to no water per flush. Composting function breaking down the waste contents through natural processes aerobic processing. Dual flush toilets which are already a staple in countries like Israel and Australia. Are gaining significant popularity in the US. A dual flush toilet allows a person to pick whether they want to use a full flush(1.6gpf) or a half flush(0.8gpf). Finally the newly improved ultra low flow toilet uses only flushes 1.28 gallons of water with every flush. Presently the Plumbers National Institute reports a strong demand increase for water saving toilets. It seems like only yesterday we were flushing three to five gallons of freshwater down the drain with every flush.

Eco-Friendly Bathroom Tips

2009-06-03T17:47:00.000-07:00

Green improvements in the bathroom conserves many natural resources. Did you know a single person in the US flushes close to twenty gallons of drinking water per day? In this list there are a few Eco-friendly products that will not only help save the planet but may also save you some money as well.

1. Compact Florescent Light Bulbs: An ordinary light bulb has the lifetime of about one thousand hours. Compact florescent light bulbs last close to eight thousand hours. A CFL light bulb is a little more expensive but in the long run, one CFL light bulb is a lot cheaper than eight regular light bulbs.

2.Environmentally friendly Liquid Soap: Regular soaps contain synthetics, perfumes, and preservatives. These harmful chemicals leak into our septic systems. Which eventually make it into our to streams, lakes, and other bodies of water causing detrimental affects to our fish.

3. Low Flow Shower head: A regular shower head uses more than twenty five gallons of water for the average person's shower. Installing a low flow shower head can save over fifty percent of the regular shower's water usage.

4. Low flow toilets: Depending on your current toilet a low flow toilet can save a family of four between 4,000-19,000 gallons of water per year. A dual flush toilet is one of the most popular types of water saving toilets. These toilets are commonly used throughout Europe, China and are mandatory in Australia.

5. Toilet tissue: In the US we cut down over 10 million trees for toilet paper. By using toilet paper that has been recycled or that is EPA compliant we can drastically decrease the amount of lumber we cut down.

6. Vanity made from Bamboo: It takes bamboo three years to grow to the point where it can be harvested and used for products. Three years is a long time but not as long as a hundred years, which is the amount of time it takes most hardwoods to grow.

7. Eco-Friendly Cleaning Solvents: Using harsh solvents in our bathroom especially in the toilet or tub impacts the environment. When the solvents are flushed down the drain they leak into the local bodies of water and destroy bacteria that help balance our ecosystem. Using green cleaning solvents is also suggested for pet owners.

8.Organic Soy Candles: Regular candles are made from petroleum based paraffin. When this chemical is burned it gives off fumes which can be environmentally harmful. Organic soy candles are made with no harsh additives so they burn cleanly causing no environmental repercussions.

9. Organic Bamboo Towels: During growth, cotton demands harsh pesticides which are harmful to the environment. Bamboo on the other hand is grown naturally without chemicals. Bamboo towels also repel mildew and bacterias that grow on moist cotton towels.

10. Bamboo Bath Mat: For many of the same reasons listed above for the bamboo towels, bamboo bath mats are ideal for your bathroom floor.

11. Literature: Keeping up to date on green practices can be beneficial to you and your wallet. Many of the newest green products actually save you money over time.

10 Nasty and Weird toilet facts

2009-06-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

10 Nasty and Weird Bathroom facts

You have to read this before you ask for ice at the next fast food restaurant. Tidbits of information that will make you make you think twice about your next bathroom trip.

1. "Pick the toilet seat up," if your a male I am guessing you have heard this at least once in your lifetime. This statement usually relates to the fact you may have left a dribble or two on the seat. Yes it is very disgusting and you should pick up the toilet seat out of common courtesy but urine is actually a sterile liquid. Urine is made up of 95% water, with trace amounts of salts, ammonia, Urea, Uric acid, and a few others.

2. Thank you Automatic flush. The toilet handle in a public restroom can have up to 40,000 germs per square inch. It is safe to say you should wash your hands with anti bacteria hand sanitizer after going to the bathroom. This can kill up to 95% of those germs. Also use a paper towel versus a hand dryer. A hand dryer can actually increase the amount of bacteria.

3. Keep the lid closed. A toilet flush causes fecal matter to become airborne. It is suggested that one should keep their toothbrush as far away from the toilet as possible.

4. Doped up fish. 90% of pharmaceuticals taken by people are excreted through urination. Therefore our sewer systems contain heavy doses of drugs, which can get into our water supply. A recent study by the EPA has found fish containing trace amounts of estrogen, cholesterol-lowering drugs, pain relievers, antibiotics, caffeine and even anti-depressants. Scientists say this can have a strong impact on fish reproduction and growth.

5. Water guzzler. A toilet uses more water than any other appliance in the home. The average person flushes almost 20 gallons of drinking water per day. In the US alone we flush over 6 billion gallons of water per day. A water efficient toilet such as a dual flush toilet can significantly cut down on the amount of water per flush.

6. Occupied. In Kansas a lady had been stuck on the toilet for two years. Apparently her skin had formed around the seat. This is truly an amazing statistic considering the fact that a normal person spends 3 years of their life on the porcelain pony.

7. Super Bowl halftime show. A certain costume malfunction always comes to mind when someone mentions the Super Bowl halftime show. Most Americans may have missed this little bit due to the fact they were in the bathroom. The toilet is flushed more times during the super bowl halftime than at any time during the year.

8. I'll have That to go. In 2006 a seventh grader for a science fair project hypothesized that there was more bacteria in the ice at fast food restaurants than there was in the toilet water. Unfortunately her hypothesis was proven correct. She found that 70% of time the toilet water contained less bacteria than the ice.

9. Don't shake with your left hand. In India the left hand is commonly known as the hand used to perform bathroom activities. It is considered a disgrace to make contact with someone with your left hand. All of you south paws should keep this in mind next time you try to shake some one's hand in India.

10. The water feels warm. A recent survey found that 1 out of 5 people have urinated in the pool. Urination in the pool can cause recreational water illnesses which can lead to respiratory, skin, and ear problems.

My Maid Made Me Green

2009-05-29T07:39:00.000-07:00

My wife just got a job to help out with the money situation in our home. She likes the job a lot and we both work long hours. We are both exhausted at the end the day, so very little house cleaning gets done. After careful consideration we decided to get a house cleaner. The house cleaner comes once a week and leaves our place spotless. She does a fabulous job; she changes sheets, washes our clothes, and even puts a little bow on the toilet paper. Marietta, our house cleaner, speaks little English so it is very tough for me to understand her. I happened to come early last week and she kept saying something about the bathroom. I couldn't understand what exactly she was saying. She was warning me about the toilet and how it was leaking. She kept telling me about the little drops of water dripping down the side of the toilet. I went up stairs to our guest room bathroom and noticed she was right. There were droplets coming from the tank of the toilet. Marietta saved the day! My wife and I would have never seen this because we never use the guest bathroom. I called up a few plumbers immediately and discovered that it was more economical to fix the toilet myself. After shopping around for a new tank I realized it would be the same cost to replace the toilet with a one piece toilet. The tank and the bowl are connected so they rarely leak . As one of my many Saturday tasks I replaced the leaking toilet with a one piece water saving toilet. It didn't take me long and the problem was solved. Our house cleaner is much happier and warns about things going wrong aka my Saturday tasks. I am not looking forward to those tasks but I realize now ripping a floor due to toilet leak is much worse than replacing a toilet.

Now when it came to replacing the toilet I knew it was going to cost me. A one piece toilet is a little more expensive than a two piece toilet. I also opted for a dual flush toilet which costs more than a regular toilet. To my surprise I am actually saving money every month on my water bill. The leak in my toilet combined with the regular flush was costing me a significant amount per quarter on my water bill. So, my suggestion to anyone with a leaky toilet, is to go out spend the extra money now for a one piece dual flush toilet. It will save you in the long run.

I have a reasonable home with an average budget. Shelling out the dollars for a one piece toilet and toilet dual flush in this economic environment was tough. My thought at the time was do it right the first time, and I wont have to replace this toilet for a few years at least. Little did I know I would be saving money. As for right now my wife absolutely loves her job and is doing great. I have my Saturday tasks around the house which I love...right.

Go green for all your toilet plumbing supplies.

Small Toilet for a Small Bathroom

2009-05-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

My wife and I just put in a beautiful finished basement complete with bar, plasma TV, and a pool table. I had my friends over the house to check out the new basement and suddenly my house became the gathering spot for watching sports events. My wife and I love entertaining people, so this really wasn't a big deal. The only problem was there was no bathroom in the basement. So every time anybody wanted to excuse themselves they would have to go upstairs. I guess you could say we are lazy but this inconvenience became a nuisance to everyone. I decided to convert a large storage closet into a bathroom. I had one huge dilemma the basement floor was cement and I was not about jack hammer a hole in the floor for the toilet. Shopping around for toilets was not an easy task. I had to first find a toilet that fits in a pretty small space and secondly the drainage could not be in the floor. After a lot of searching and talking to plumbers I came across a wall hung toilet. This toilet's drainage pipe and tank goes into wall and without a tank it used less space. Jackpot, my problem was solved! I installed the wall hung toilet in the converted closet. It's kind of narrow in there but it does the job. Basically anyone can have toilet in there basement without having to jack up the floor. If you are considering putting a bathroom in your basement or making any type of renovations to your home. Think green when buying your products. Green homes sell better and they also save the environment. When choosing the toilet for my basement I was educated in the different types of water saving toilets out there. I chose a dual flush toilet. It saves a good amount of water. Also keep in mind using Low Voc paint, and Incandescent light bulbs. I used the Low Voc paints primarily for my dog. The low voc paints emit a lot less harmful toxins in the air, so it is pet friendly and good for the environment. Incandescent light bulbs use a lot less energy and last a lot longer then regular light bulbs. Updating your home to be green may be a process but it is worth it in the long run. Having a finished basement is great place to entertain people. Unfortunately we had no bathroom in the basement, which became a problem. Making a huge adjustments to the basement in order to accommodate a toilet was completely out of the question, so we got a wall hung toilet . Make you sure you get a wall hung toilet with tank. Its compact size and wall drainage were perfect for putting in a small bathroom. Also always try to choose green products when updating your place. My next green renovation is adding a wood floor to the basement. I have searched around and found that bamboo flooring is the greenest way to accomplish this task. Bamboo flooring a renewable resources which usually takes about 3 years to grow. This is significant when considering that most hardwoods take close to a century to grow.

I am a person that loves home improvement jobs around the house. I am constantly updating my home to be more green.Dual flush toilet are a great way to go green. If you have minimal space in your bathroom bathroom try a wall hung toilet | wall mount toilet . They work great and save a ton of space.

How to Save Space in your Bathroom

2009-05-28T10:06:00.000-07:00