The Best Toilet Flushing System

Best Selling Toilet Flushing System

Toilets are some of the home installations that provide invaluable services in the home. However, one often goes unnoticed until something goes wrong.  The flushing toilet also accounts for a huge portion of your home water usage. In the past, toilet flushing used up to 3.5 gallons of water in each flush, with others going upwards to 7 gallons more. With this, Thousands of gallons of water could be used in flushing down the toilet every year.

But, you may have realized that innovations of flushing systems in the new flushing toilet can make the toilet use as less as 1.6 gallons per flush down. Whereas less water was used per flush, most homeowners found that they had to flush two or more times to flush down the solid waste, thus not efficient.

This necessitated further innovation on flushing systems to make flush toilets more efficient and conserve water. So, what are the best toilet flushing systems? Read on to find out!

How Do a Flush Toilet Works?

A flush toilet employs a couple of basic mechanical components to flush out waste. Apart from the basic mechanical components, the rest of the process depends on natural forces of gravity and siphoning action. Here is how the entire process of flushing your home toilet happens:

Step 1: Flush Handle Lifts the Flapper

The toilet flapper valve sits on the flush valve and is connected to the flush lever by a chain. When the toilet is flushed, the flapper lifts up off the flush valve seat allowing water to exit the tank.

Step 2: Water Flushes to the Toilet Bowl

The lifted flapper allows tank water to rush into the bowl through the larger siphon jet and the rim jest. The float drops as the water empties from the tank thus opening the fill valve while the flapper drops back onto its seat.

Step 3: Gravity Occurs

The bowl fills and gravity force pushes water and waste into the trapway causing it to overflow the top of the trapway.

Step 4: Water and Waster Siphoned Down

Water rushing to the top of the trapway creates a suction force that sucks the waste and water from the bowl. Once water is pulled from the bowl, air enters the trapway thus ending the siphoning effect and the flush.

Step 4: Refill

Water runs back into the tank through the fill valve that is connected to the water supply line. The refill tube sends water down the overflow tube to the toilet bowl.

Step 5: Ready for Next Flush

As the water in the tank rises, it lifts the float until it shuts off the fill valve. The water that remains in the bowl and in the trapway attains a common level, right below the top of the trap way.

Best Toilet Flushing Systems

Double Cyclone Flushing System/ Tornado Flush

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The double cyclone flushing system is one of the newest toilet flushing systems. It was invented by the Toto toilet company and is now becoming more popular.

A double cyclone flush system toilet uses 1.28 gallons per flush for both liquid and solid waste. Regardless, it delivers the power flush equivalent to a full 1.6 gallons per flush toilet. As such, the flushing system meets the EPA requirements and will without a doubt make a huge difference in your current water bills.

What makes this system stand out is that it uses two nozzles instead of the rim holes. The two nozzles work together with the propulsion system that is incorporated with this system to create a powerful siphoning action with a more efficient flush without losing any flushing power along the way.

Regardless of being a double cyclone flush system, it is fairly a basic mechanism. It also used some gravitational pushing mechanism within its flushing process.

Gravity Flushing System

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The gravity flushing system uses water in the tank to create flushing pressure that comes down the flush pipe with power and force solid waste and water from the toilet bowl down through the trap way to the drainage.

After every flush, there is a siphoning effect that clears the bowl prior to refiling it. This ensures that nothing is trapped. Best flushing toilet reviews concur that the gravity flushing system cleans their toilet bowl leaving them sparkling clean.

Since there are no extra mechanics involved, this flushing toilet system entirely depends on gravitational power. This makes it the quietest flush toilet available and demands little or no maintenance as there are no extra or complicated moving parts to worry about.

The gravity flushing toilet system is the oldest technology and the most timeless style of flushing system, thus the most reliable toilet brand systems have held.

Pressure Assisted Flushing Systems

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The Pressure assisted flushing system depends on the pressure as opposed to gravitational force in most toilet flushing systems. This flushing system is commonly featured in commercial toilets owing to its powerful flush that doesn’t clog easily.

With the powerful flush, you can get down more solid waste in a faster and easier way without worrying about clogs. However, it is louder and may not be ideal for a home with a baby. Since it is less prone to clogs, it is easy to maintain and keeps the bowl cleaner.

Although the pressure-assisted flushing system may at times come with a double flush mechanism, it is not as popular as gravity flush. I believe this is because of its newer technology and perhaps the extra noise it comes with.

Dual Flush System

The dual flush design system has taken the toilet market by storm. In fact, this system has leapfrogged the pressure-assisted system and is gaining popularity like the gravity flush system.

Dual flush toilet features an awesome flushing mechanism design of offering users the option to choose between using partial flush or full flush with regards to the type of waste they want to flush. For this reason, more and more people are falling for its charm.

The fact that this system offers the option to choose, has helped many consumers to significantly reduce water usage, water bills while having an eco-friendly best flushing toilet system at home.

The partial toilet flushes are designed to work better with liquid waste and can consume about 1.1 gallons per flush or less. On the other hand, the full flush option is for solid waste and can use up to 1.6 gallons per flush.

Washdown Flushing System

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The washdown flushing toilets are rarely in the US but popular in the US. These systems are usually compared to the regular siphon toilet. Except they have a bigger trap way, making them easier for water and waste to drain out.

This system does not feature complicated valves or floating balls. It uses weight and gravitational water flow to flush out the toilet. All the solid and liquid waste are pushed out of the bowl by the high pressure of the pouring water.

Siphon (Single-Flush) Flushing System

The single-flush or siphon flush is a well-known toilet flushing system that is most common in toilet options for homes. It features one handle to flush waste with a siphon and can use the same amount of water per flush.

It is best in keeping the bottom of the bowl cleaner for longer and refills the bowl with fresh water after every flush. This is the most likely toilet flushing system you have in your home, condo, or apartment owing to its low-cost option.

It is mainly used in most commercial buildings, homes, apartment complexes, and public restrooms. The flush is triggered by a button at the top of the tank, that opens the flush valve to allow the water through the bowl.

A common problem associated with the siphon flushing system is that it has a long and narrow trapway. Therefore, it is advisable to keep the plunger close at hand if the clog happens.

Flapper-Flush Valve Flushing System

The flapper-flush valve flushing system is another fairly common system seen in most homes. It features a flush valve that is either opened or closed by a hinged plate. The plate is usually made from rubber or plastic and moves up and down to allow water to go in for a flush, or cover it so that water refills in the tank.

The flapper is filled with air ad floats when you trigger the flush by the lever on the tank. When the flapper is pulled out of its seat by the chain, water flows from the tank to the bowl. When the water level drops, the flapper cannot float and thus falls back into its seat. This allows the tank to refill and prepare for the next flush.

However, newer versions of this system are widely available with dual flushing, one for solid waste and the other for fluid waste.

Rear-Flush Toilet System

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The rear-flush system is rare in the US by very common in European countries. However, it is the most ideal for those with a small space for a toilet owing to its space-saving abilities. It ideally takes up less space and can be installed in very small spaces.

The rear-flush uses a typical pressure-assisted flush component, but instead of a bulky system, this option is fitted with a small box that is on the wall right behind the toilet. This system is usually used in places where the toilet does not have a tank. Besides, it is more sleek-looking because all the plumbing fixtures are all hidden.

However, bear in mind that the toilet is less stable compared to floor toilets. This is because they are usually bolted directly onto the wall and therefore can become loose with time. As such, this flush system and toilet require regular maintenance and readjustment and replacements.

Ballcock Flush System

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The ballcock flush toilet system is ideally one of the most commonly used types of flushes. The system uses a ballcock along with a plunger which fills the water tank of the toilet. The ballcock is the floating ball attached to a rod and when the rod moves, it triggers the plunger to allow water to either fill or empty the tank.

The ballcock is very dependent on the water level and if there’s too little water, it will not work properly. The fault can also be due to the shut off valve being set too high. As such, the water fails to shut off, causing it to flow into the overflow tube.

Tower Style Flushing System

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The tower-style toilet flushing system is also referred to as canister flush and is mostly used by Kohler toilets. The system uses a canister flapper that is normally mounted in the middle of the tank and then connected to the flush handle.

Unlike the flapper-flush system, this one lifts off entirely to allow water to flow into the toilet bowl from a 360 degrees angle. The water thus flows into the bowl faster creating a powerful flush.

Kohler’s Class Five flushing technology that utilizes a tower flushing system has designed the flush valve in a way that the entry is bigger than the exit in a ratio of 3:2. With this, more water is moved which then builds up pressure resulting in a powerful flush for a clean toilet.

How Can I Improve My Toilet’s Flushing Power?

Regardless of what toilet flushing system you choose, getting the most out of it is crucial. And often, the core features do not provide enough performance to validate the price. A powerful flush is the biggest reason to choose one toilet over the other. Therefore, if it is absent in that area, then you have to make adjustments.

Can a few modifications alter the way a flushing toilet works? Yes. However, most of the modifications require little to no experience. With a couple of DIY modifications, you can significantly save more money within a short time.

Why is a Strong Flush Essential?

A strong flush for the toilet gets the waste down with a single flush and keeps it from flowing back up. With a strong flush, you won’t have a reason to do a double or triple flush. Every time you press the lever to clear the toilet bowl, water is reintroduced to the bowl. Therefore, having to flush twice adds up, and makes weak toilets a less desirable option.

The cleanliness of the bowl is linked to the strength of the flush. Whether it drains downs the waste in on a single flush, you may be forced to press the lever again to fully clean the toilet bowl.

What to look out for when you have a toilet with weak flushing potential

Higher Maintenance

When you have a toilet with a weak flush, you can expect the maintenance to go up. Drop-in tablets will dissolve faster, even when rated for use for months. This is a direct result of the number of flushes toilet experiences during the cleaning period. Therefore, users with weak toilet flushes have to invest more in tablets or readjust by cleaning the toilet frequently.

Holds Up the Bathroom

Homes with one bathroom being shared by more people suffer the most when with a weak flush. This is because it forces an individual to stay in the bathroom to witness how things go down while others wait. This is an uncomfortable feeling that no one should be subjected to.

Harder to Repair

Any flushing toilet can have problems, but there is a greater chance of more difficult problems if the flush is weak. For example, blockage issues caused by weak flushing means that the problem is most likely to return in a few days again. And in households where a single toilet is used by multiple individuals, the chances of malfunction are higher.

Floods are more Possible

With a weak flush, you can’t guarantee that the waste will be pushed down the trapway the same way each time you flush. Each trip you make to the bathroom is different and no two flushes will be the same. When you don’t have enough flushing power, things go down quite clumsily. And there are chances that it will return after a failed attempt. Without a doubt, this is not a pleasant experience, especially for your guests.

So how do you make your toilet flush powerful?

There are several ways to upgrade your toilet flush strength without necessarily hiring a professional plumber. With basic experience, you can successfully modify your toilet flush to be stronger. However, some of the modifications can only be done on specific types of flushes, especially a good gravity flushing system. Conversely, the pressure-assisted toilets will come completely maximized for top flushing power.

Check for Clogs

If your weak flushing toilet is older, inspect it to see whether something is partly clogging it. Equally, how fast your bathroom sink drains out the water entirely depends on the buildup of shaving cream and toothpaste over time. Water that used to drain down pretty faster now takes its time. The sink is not fully but partially clogged.

To remedy this, the gunk that sticks to the pipes has to be cleared out to allow the sink to drain down water like it’s new. However, with the toilet, you can find out whether it is clogged by pouring a bucket of water into the bowl. If it struggles to flush, then it is partially clogged. You can use a plunger or snake to clear the pipes for effective flushing.

Use Vinegar

A vinegar soak is another great option for improving your toilet’s flushing power. However, it is a more proactive option than checking for a partial clog. Open the toilet tank lid and remove the fill hose if present in your toilet model. With care, put a funnel in the overflow tube, and fill it with a quart of white vinegar.

Let it rest for a couple of hours before putting everything back together and flush the toilet. Even though the first flush may look a bit weird, the subsequent flushes will substantially make a difference in power. This is a fast yet gentle way to get rid of buildup in your toilet and pipes and greatly improve the toilet’s flush.

Check Water Levels in the Toilet Tank

You can check the water levels in your toilet tank and probably it requires to be reset after several years of use. This is a basic matter that can be sorted out in two different ways. For regular toilets with ball float, you can turn the screw clockwise to raise the water.

But if your toilet has a cylinder float valve, you can use the clip on the float to adjust it to attain a suitable water level. Both of these solutions require water to be at least one inch below the overflow tube. This is the most ideal measurement for most toilet models and will deliver you the strongest flush power.

Check for Clogged Rims

Clogged rims can be a greater problem compared to partly clogged pipes. Water coming out of the rims helps in cleaning the toilet and refill the bowl with fresh water. Even though it does not handle the heavy work, this water aids in pushing down waste from the bowl. Ideally, it is all about the force at which it flushes out, and if this is compromised, your toilet won’t operate at superior flushing power.

For a toilet, the flushing process is a group effort and the rims play a minor yet very crucial role in the whole process. Therefore, run a toilet cleaning brush underneath to get rid of rim clogs. Most modern toilet cleaning brushes come with an inbuilt rim brush to the scrubber. Be sure to keep the brush clean after the cleaning process.

Replace the Pipes Connecting to the toilet

This can be the last resort if none of the methods I have mentioned works. Ideally, the pipes connecting to the toilet are old and never been replaced for years. You can easily spot a newish toilet with old looking pipes. A slight change in the pipes can significantly boost the toilet’s flushing power. Consider changing the pipes near the intermediate territory.

Without a doubt, a few adjustments here and there can make a whole difference in the flushing power of your toilet. Keep these few strategies in mind and you will prolong the lifespan of your good flushing toilet while keeping your family happy when visiting the toilet.

What are the Common Toilet Problems to Look Out for?

There are common toilet problems you can wait around for them to just disappear. Don’t sit pretty when you see the following problems with your toilet, take action!

Running toilet

Just hearing your toilet running continuously alone can drive you crazy. If you hear your toilet continuously running or cycling on and off, you must take action to stop water wastage. The main reason why your toilet could be running on and off is the flapper that does not seal properly.

If the water in the tank seeps around the flapper into the bowl, the flapper is probably damaged. You can remedy this by flushing the toilet and look for the fill valve leak. You can lift up the toilet float arm when the tank is filling and see whether the water stops. Adjust the toilet float arm so that the tank stops filling once the water reaches 1/2- to 1-inch below the top of the overflow pipe. If the fill valve continues to leak, replace it.

Banging Toilet Lid

A soft close seat works perfectly at stopping the noisy bang when lowering the toilet seat. However, if you hear the banging noise of the lid hitting the tank when opening and banging the bowl when closing, you must take action.

You can stop this by placing a vinyl bumper on the lid on the side facing the toilet tank. To avoid the bang on the bowl, place vinyl bumpers on the side of the toilet seat that faces the bowl.

Bubbling Toilet

If you see air bubbles rising up through your toilet bowl, except when flushed or notice the water level rising and falling, you certainly have an improperly vented or clogged toilet. This problem is true, especially if you have a big appliance like a clothes washer nearby. Your drain line is possibly grasping for air.

This is where the venting system comes in handy. If the drain lines in your home are poorly vented, water running down the drains will suck water from the adjacent P-traps. The drain in your toilet is a P-trap. So, if the problem started recently, then it might be the drain is blocked or the plumbing vent pipe requires “snaking” out.

However, a clogged or missing vent can be difficult for you to fix as it will require you to break into the walls to examine the drain system. You can hire a professional plumber for this job.

Sluggish Toilet

If your toilet flushes slowly, then most probably the rinse holes under the rim may be clogged with mineral deposits. Get a mirror and a coat hanger and clean each of those jets without getting your hands dirty.

Clogged Toilet

For most clogged toilets, you will require one special tool, a toilet plunger. You can buy a toilet plunger with an extended flange on the rubber bell-shaped end. With the extension, you can easily pull any kind of dirt clogging your toilet. Moreover, you can use the plunger to unplug sink and tub drains.

Loose Toilet Seat

If your toilet seat is loose or wiggly, you can tighten it with inexpensive rubber bushings to stabilize it. This is a DIY that can take about 15 minutes. Ideally, remover the toilet seat nuts and alternatively insert the rubber bushings.

Corroded Flush Handle

A toilet flush handle can cause your toilet to run continuously. Usually, the toilet handles get loose or corroded and can no longer pull the flap up or drop it back appropriately. However, this is an easy DIY repair.

You can remove the faulty or corroded handle by turning the nut to the left to loosen it. Remove the corroded old handle and lever, then slide the new one into place and thread on the retaining nut. Tighten the handle by turning it to the left.

 So, Which Toilet Flushing System is the Best?

All the toilet flushing systems come with different pros and cons, which is why we have so many different options to choose from. The best toilet flushing system will therefore depend on personal preference.

If you don’t want a high-powered and noisy toilet flushing system in your home, the pressure-assisted system would not be your best choice. However, the rest of the options come with a quieter flush that will not be too much for your home.

If you are looking to save space, you can choose the rear-flush toilet which is designed to take up very little space. But, if you are looking for a very quiet option, the gravity flushing system might be the most ideal pick for you.

More importantly, if you don’t want to compromise power for quiet operation, consider choosing the double-cyclone flushing system that will allow you to get a powerful flush in a quiet manner.

So, whatever toilet flushing system you choose, make sure you are happy with it since you are most likely going to have it for quite a long time.