In the old days, it was somewhat of a rarity to have to drag out the plunger and unclog the toilet. Today, it seems like every third day brings a toilet clog that calls for a little amateur plumbing. Why is that? What happened to the good toilets of old. Well, if you’re asking these questions, thinking there’s something wrong with your toilet, you can rest easy. It’s not just yours. Toilets everywhere have lost much of their suctioning power over the last decades. Today’s bowls are designed to use water as efficiently as possible, which means less suctioning power and less water flow. Of course, along with the water savings has come a bit of an inconvenience for homeowners.
Today’s toilets are called gravity toilets and they are built around using-you guessed it-gravity. Gravity is used to pull the water and waste down through the bottom of the bowl and through the pipes. There is a valve on the toilet that, when activated by pressing the flushing handle, opens, letting water from the tank enter the bowl. When the water level reaches a certain point in the bowl, the water drains out the bottom. This isn’t any different from the way old toilets worked. The difference is in the amount of water used. Today’s toilets use much less.
With the assistance of a qualified professional, however, it is possible that you can get your toilet to perform in a way that is consistent with how they used to flush. Though the plumbing is slightly different, even the most efficient toilets usually are the capacity to hold more water than they actually use. If you hire a professional who knows what they’re doing, they can reroute the flow and get it to use some of that water. It’s not the most environmentally friendly decision, but then neither is having to flush the toilet several times just to get rid of a wad of toilet paper.
Some problems, however, aren’t to be blamed on the use of less water. Some of them have more to do with the inner workings of the plumbing. Old pipes may become partially blocked, preventing the efficient flushing of the toilet. Using products like Liquid Plumr might help to some degree, but hiring a professional will help with more chronic problems. It might also be in your interest to purchase a power-assist toilet. These are designed to use compressed air to aid in the flushing process. This is the kind you see in many commercial bathrooms and is the reason those toilets are usually so much better at getting rid of the waste.