The Dual Flush Toilet: A Simple Idea that is Brilliant Enough to Save the Planet

One of on the top interests on the national agenda of the Environmental Protection Agency is contained in a report released recently. By the year 2013, the report reads, 36 states or two-thirds of the union are expected to have to cope with severe water shortages. A large part of the problem is accounted for by the nation's creaking old infrastructure that is wasteful with water. Shortsighted water resource planning by the administration in each state is another part of the problem. Whatever water problems America is about to face in the near future, Australia, as the world's most parched continent, has faced for decades already and has found solutions for. The way the world over of dealing with water scarcity has been for cities and towns to place strict restrictions on nonessential use of water. The state of Nevada for example regularly forbids by ordinance, the use of water to water lawns. While this is a very sensible measure for a city to enforce, there are larger and more important areas to address that can save water much more effectively. In Australia's experience, water conservation should begin with attention paid to household toilets.

A regular household toilet uses in its flush cistern a full 12 to 13 liters of water for every flushing action. A normal home with four members should crank the flush four times each day on average, in actions that should end up using about 200 liters a day. This is clearly an alarming figure for a world that has large populations running dry and desperate.

Australia's answer to the problem has been a reinvention of the standard toilet. The new toilet system is called the Dual Flush Toilet. Visually, this toilet has not that much to set it apart from a regular toilet; one telling sign though of this modern system is the appearance on the flush tank of two cranks or buttons instead of one. The principle used by the dual flush toilet is based around the realization that not every visit to the toilet has to do with the expulsion of solid waste. There are quick trips to the toilet several times a day made for relieving the bladder and not the bowels. Pee in the toilet is not a difficult task to clean up for a flush system. A mere half tank is usually adequate for these purposes. The dual flush toilet offers two flushing actions: one for heavy duty solid waste expulsion, that uses up the full tank of water, and another light duty liquid waste action, that only uses half a tank of water. This simple but undeniably brilliant idea reduces enormously the burden placed by population on the water resources of a region. Many countries of the world have responded to this idea by making it mandatory for new constructions to use nothing but this type of water-conscious toilet.

A dual flush toilet system is not merely about a toilet tank with two actions; the toilet is designed differently in addition. For a half-capacity water release to be effective, the toilet needs to be able to evacuate the bowl far more quickly than a regular toilet; for this purpose the dual flush toilet bowel is designed with an extra-large-diameter S-bend pipe. To the user, this new toilet system does not really change much about his life. Once there is willingness to consider the situation and to use the appropriate flushing action, there is not much difference to the results obtained.

The newest Australian designs today are able to manage with a mere 3 L of water for a half flush and just twice that for a full flush. The dual flush toilet is only marginally more expensive to buy than a regular toilet. Installation is not much different from the old kind and any plumber or dedicated home improvement enthusiast can set one up in a mere few hours.

Helping the environment involves committing to new ways of looking at our lives, in areas that we never put much thought into before. It could be building a natural rain harvesting pit in the backyard, or it could be the purchase of economy shower heads; saving the environment is all about admitting to oneself that making little sacrifices such as these, are all that need to be done to manage the planet better.