Toilets are Crazy
Having been in Europe for a month I have come across a bizarre thing that I haven’t seen anywhere else: toilets with a two button flush mechanism. I couldn’t figure it out! One button tends to be smaller than the other button, and both buttons are typically side by side. I frankly assumed one button was for #1′s and the other for #2′s. It never seemed that simple, though.
Honestly, in my Paris hostel I saw the two button system again and genuinely thought that there must be some pretty blatant design flaw with the idea of a two button flush system. After the deed is done, which do you press? Presented with such confusion I always went for the bigger of the two buttons (occasionally trying out the smaller one). However, I noticed that when I pressed the smaller one, generally both buttons depressed (that’s the case in this London hostel). In such a case it seems like an aesthetic choice to split the buttons up — so clearly there’s a design issue!
I figured that in my last two days outside of Canada I’d google the matter and was quite surprised to learn that the button size corresponds to the amount of water used with the flush. Big problem with that logic: given the potential inconsistencies between flush mechanism designs, do you press the large button because it’s bigger (thus more important) or because it symbolizes more water? It’s ambiguous!
yo'mama said:
Dual Flush Toilets Are Newest Way to Save Water
NEW YORK, April 16 /PRNewswire/ — Long showers or leaving the water
running while brushing your teeth may be thought to be the most wanton
waste of water, but the real guzzler of the house is the toilet. Each
household member flushes the toilet four or more times daily on average,
accounting for more than 20 gallons per person. If the toilets in the house
were installed before 1994, they account for 40% of the household’s total
use of water.
Today, homeowners have options to save water. In fact, there are two.
Caroma, an Australian company, has dual flush toilets that feature two
buttons: one for liquid waste, the other for solid waste. It works on the
theory that less water is needed to rid the bowl of liquid than solids. The
buttons provide a direct-to-the-consumer means to further conserve water
each time the toilet is flushed. Choose to use either .8 gallons or 1.6.
The average of the two – .95 gpf – makes a dual flush model the most water-
conscious toilet on the market today.
It is a brilliantly plausible concept made effective by redesigning the
flushing technology and enlarging the trapway to nearly double that of the
industry average. The look of Caroma toilets is similar to traditional
toilets, but inside they function on a unique principle which has allowed
the brand to develop a worldwide reputation as the water-saving toilet that
is nearly impossible to clog.