A $10 fix to save a gallon of water per toilet flush

July 24, 2012 by Jeffrey Davis 6 Comments

I was flushing over a gallon of extra water down the toilet with every flush! Are you doing the same thing?

The catalyst for the inspection of not how much water is used in my toilet’s flush, but how much water is wasted as it refills, escapes my memory — but I’m glad that I at least remembered to check into it.

In this video I’ll show you how to very simply check for this water wasting flaw in your toilet, and how to fix it for $10.

Filed Under: Home & Family Tagged With: conservation, DIY, home, products, reviews, water

About Jeffrey Davis

Yo, I'm Jeffrey, founder of and editor in chief here at Eco-Snobbery Sucks. I live in Nashville, TN and am a writer, personal trainer, web designer, and wookie hugger. I hang out on Twitter some but you can find me more active on Facebook. Enjoy the site!

Jeff McIntire-strasburg

Very cool! I’ve had a “toilet tank displacement bag” in my tank for several years, but, honestly, never measured its performance… I’ve taken it at face value that it’s saving water.
Pingback: This Simple $10 Fix Saves a Gallon Per Flush – News Watch
Ben Rosenthal

I have trouble believing this. Can you please post the video you captured before you made this one, where you show the gallon of water going down the drain after the bowl has reached its level?

After filling the bowl, the overflow tube finishes filling the tank, because a certain amount of water is required to flush the bowl in addition to the water already there. In my experience, that water goes into the tank to raise the ball (in a ball and cock setup) or the lever on the fill valve until it reaches the set level.As seen in your video, only a small amount of water was needed to finish filling the tank after you filled your gallon pitcher. I don’t think that’s where the water would have been wasted. However, consider the water that flows through the overflow tube while the toilet is flushing. When flushed, the ball or valve lever falls and fill water starts flowing even though the toilet is still flushing. That water probably isn’t necessary.So, find a way to prevent the fill from taking place until later in the flushing process. Or, replace your toilet with a high efficiency model, like this one: http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100676582

If you live in San Francisco’s East Bay, EBMUD is offering a $100 rebate for residents who replace a conventional toilet with a high efficiency low-flow model. Given the current nationwide drought, maybe you can encourage your local municipality to do the same.
http://www.ebmud.com/for-customers/water-conservation-rebates-and-services/high-efficiency-toilet-rebates
- http://www.EcoSnobberySucks.com Jeffrey Davis
  
  Hey Ben. Thanks for commenting. I don’t have a separate video showing the gallon of water going down the drain (how would I video what’s in the drain?). But that is exactly what I’m showing in the first half of the video BEFORE i replaced the fill valve.
  
  That’s what the water from the tube filling up the pitcher is showing — water that would be going down the drain AFTER the bowl has finished filling (which i showed when the bowl stopped filling in the video).
  
  And no, the overflow tube does not finish filling the tank after the water level in the bowl has reached its height. It goes down the drain. The fill valve (the part I replaced) fills the tank. The water that comes out of the hose at the top of the fill valve and into the overflow tube is either filling the bowl or going down the drain. Here’s a pretty good video explanation of that: http://youtu.be/rbHBWIfZTvs?t=2m40s
  
  I found this hard to believe too, Ben. When I first did the test I thought I had to be mistaken. I did extensive research to make sure I was (but found that I wasn’t). Tell ya what though, I’ll call a local plumber tomorrow and ask them what happens to the water that goes down the overflow tube after the bowl is filled, just to take one more step of due diligence.
- http://www.EcoSnobberySucks.com Jeffrey Davis
  
  Hey @google-b5bb54cedb379ab79bf980a40569edc3:disqus, here’s an illustration from the back of the box this fill valve came in that does a great job of illustrating how the surplus water is wasted.
Pingback: How to Save a Gallon of Water with Every Toilet Flush | Planetsave