Size Matters - #2 of 52

The Mrs. and I went to a house party Friday night. Met one of our local Dentists and we got to talking about toilets. Seems the subject is fascinating to folks other than myself. Proves that either I am not eccentric or that there are others other like me.

Anyways I thought Blog #2 would be dedicated to #2. (Say Ewww!)

Since part of my list of 52 things to do is to reduce my utility bills, the main floor toilet was a natural target. I bought a 17.5" height, 3.8 litre/flush, 1000g rated American Standard Toilet "made in Mexico". It replaced a 16 litre/flush American Standard Toilet  "Made in Stratford Ontario" toilet that I gleaned from the roadside last spring. That replaced another Canadian made toilet "Crane" that I think used about 45 gallons per flush but it came with the house.

For toilets size matters - The 17.5 inch height should be the new standard - Not sure why 14 inches is the standard but perhaps the folks in England were a lot shorter when it was invented. According to my Dentist friend, his brother-in-law with bad knees could not thank him enough for recommending the extra height. In the Lobzun families our porcelin thrones have reading materials beside them as a mandatory accessory.

After hooking everything up, I anticipated the first flush. I thought the toilet was broken as the speed at which it emptied was almost at outhouse levels. This is in part to the 3 inch hole beneath the flapper. I had to wait for some contents but I will admit as a regular go-er I was impressed once again. I never weighed what I consider to be a good poop but the 1000gm rating took it with no problem. Comments from the other users can be summed up as "I love it". Can you love a toilet? I look forward to our open house on the 18th to hear what my friends think.

If you are wondering about the picture, it is called a Whiz and Wash. Another simple environmentally friendlier idea whose time has come. In the operation of urinals, the greatest enemy of the drain is urine sitting in the P-Trap (Shape not contents). Since good hygiene practice is to wash your hands after you go, this combines 2 functions in one as the sink above the urinal, drains in to the urinal below. Sadly this is an artists conception right now but I can see it becoming commercial soon. This is actually better than the waterless urinals as there are no special fluid discs to replace. Imagine if all commercial buildings converted over to the Whiz and Wash!

Since I am on the topic of bathrooms, I'll share a couple more observations. One is the new Dyson (Vacuum guy) hand dryers that use a band of concentrated air flow to dry your hands. This actually works and the new 401 service centres have some of these. The other is public washroom doors, new designs don't have them. I wonder how much disease could be prevented if we just didn't have doors on public washrooms. Having no door is wheelchair accessible - kid friendly (Somedoors require superhuman strength to open) - no maintenance on automatic closers or paint/graffitti. It would be cheap to retrofit (Take door off hinges - put sign on wall). Another benefit is an open doorway adds a level of security to public places by not being sealed off from the main area. I am sure that there is some consultant right now advising government at $1,000/day on how to do this.

Water is very precious and although governments have taken up the fight against bottled water, we can do much more by changing the way we use water. As an added bonus for business and residents on metered systems - every litre you save on water use you save on sewage costs.

It's a small thing but it's how you use it that matters ;)

Cheers
Mit