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11:42 AM, SEPTEMBER 02, 2007
Oh_smurf_gods_thumb
Abuse Your Friend's Toilets
Issues: 
37348 views | 25 comments
Blog Blog 
Toilet_tank_inline

Abue Your Friend's Toilets

Today, as my first post on Rethos, I give you a very earth friendly tip that I just learned about last night from the plumber that was here fixing a leak in the bathroom.

This is my most recent post from one of my blogs, http://earththreat.org.

Do you feel like saving bazillions of gallons of fresh water? I will now tell you how.

No, this is not the pop bottle full of water or rocks in the toilet tank. That does not always work that great. The bottle can get in the way of your toilets moving parts. This method does not involve any bottles, rocks, water, or tools.

If you have ever taken the lid off of a toilet, you know that there is a float ball in there that attached to a thin metal rod. This float balls level determines the water level within the toilets tank. Get in there, grab that rod, and bend it downward a little. Next time the toilet is flushed and the tank refills the water level is forever lowered (unless it is bent back of course).

Think about all of the water that could be saved with this trick. Toilets get flushed a hell of a lot. If one gallon of water is saved per flush, and that toilet is flushed six times a day, you will be responsible for saving over 2,000 gallons of water per year. Abuse five of your friend’s toilets and you will save close to 11,000 gallons with a six flush daily average.

Let’s start abusing shall we? We should have a contest or something. Thanks for reading.

Rating:
mostly loved
(by 38 users)  

25 PREVIOUS COMMENTS

N549842281_3118_thumb SEP 02, 2007
Bryan Mahoney

Great tip, can’t wait to start hacking away at my friend’s toilets.

Oh_smurf_gods_thumb SEP 02, 2007
Christopher

Haha! Good man. I’ve already attacked a hand full my self! Why stop now?!?

Fer_thumb SEP 03, 2007
Fernando

Great hack! here is something that I found long time ago.




The Aqus system collects the water from a bathroom sink and filters and disinfects it before it gets re-used as flush water for an adjacent toilet. It saves between 10 and 20 gallons of fresh water per day for two person bathrooms with normal activities. This represents between 3,650 and 7,300 gallons of fresh water saved per year. An equal amount of wastewater cost is also saved.” This would mean an annual savings of $40.88 to $81.76 (based on an average rate of $5.60 per 1,000 gallons) from using a device like this. Before you think that it will not generate enough water, consider connect your shower too.




http://www.watersavertech.com/AQUS-Diagram.html




Something less hightech could be: http://pathtofreedom.com/peddlerswagon/homestead/ecogoods/toiletlidsink.shtml

Oh_smurf_gods_thumb SEP 03, 2007
Christopher

Wow, what a great idea! I will definitely be linking to these sites from EarthThreat.org in the near future, and when I have a place of my own I will certainly install a system such as these.

Dsc02675_thumb SEP 23, 2007
james emmans

not many people know that water companies often have to pump the fresh water to homes. So using less water actually reduces energy use as well .

Rich_main_-_071030_thumb SEP 23, 2007
Richard Jones

Why the heck aren’t toilets just designed with this kink in place? You do see some modern toilets with the ‘half-flush’ option, but surely all modern toilets shoulds be designed to work at the most effective standard.




What is the actual policy on flushing: ‘if it’s yellow let it mellow’ – is this best? Is it best to avoid flushing even in other people’s homes? Obviously it’s not so bad for us guys…

Oh_smurf_gods_thumb SEP 25, 2007
Christopher

Those toilets with the half flush option were all over Australia when I was there, and I have never seen one in Canada.

Logoblkcp_thumb SEP 25, 2007
Boston Vegan Association

Great! A toilet hack!




My wife and I don’t flush after every use. It’s pretty obvious when the toilet actually NEEDS to be flushed, and then this tip comes in handy, especially if you live in an apartment and have an old, wasteful toilet you can’t replace.

40_thumb SEP 26, 2007
Corey Pomkoski

love it! i am so in…Bryan…prepare to be toilet abused.

Rethosdefaultavatar_small OCT 16, 2007
Eric

Am I the only one who doesn’t want my friends fucking with my toilet?

Rethosdefaultavatar_small OCT 28, 2007
Jerry Mulder

I don’t believe it is a good idea to go screwing around with other peoples toilets. Besides, household use accounts for only 15% of water use (agriculture 70%, industrial 15%) so if we get farmers to stop growing rice in the desert (because of access to cheap plentiful water) then we could save more water than messing around with a million friends toilets.

Earth_thumb OCT 29, 2007
Freeman White

Dugg on Digg.com. Go here to Digg it yourself and move it up in the rankings.




http://digg.com/environment/Save_Water_Hack_Your_Friends_Toilets

N641615179_621075_8016_thumb NOV 06, 2007
Bas

@ Jerry…




And while we’re convincing the farmers, let’s not be hypocritical and make sure we don’t waste so much water ourselves.

Berserk_-_v13c06p135_copy_thumb NOV 10, 2007
guts

genius

Tapestry_logo_thumb NOV 17, 2007
The Tapestry Commmunity

Shhh! I just hacked 4 of my neighbors toilets…don’t tell!
What a great idea…I have never thought about that.
I will now vandalize every toilet I come across!

Turtle-babysea_thumb DEC 04, 2007
Meredith Gossland

Christopher!!! You are my hero!!!! Vandalism that benefits us all!!! Hooray! I will do this to every toilet I use if the tank cover can be removed!!!!!
Yipee!! Look out Gas stations in California here I come! Beware restaurants I’m on my way…..OOOOHHHH yes I’ll get you at the beauty salon too!!!!!! lol lol lol lol lol

Rethosdefaultavatar_small DEC 10, 2007
Eirik Solberg

Not a toilet safe in Oslo this christmas!

Rethosdefaultavatar_small DEC 12, 2007
Willow

That’s an awesome idea! Thanks for sharing! My friends will all be wondering why I suddenly start making trips to their toilets…

Rethosdefaultavatar_small DEC 13, 2007
Eirik Solberg

Willow:




Why would your friends find it strange that you use the bathroom? hehe

Rethosdefaultavatar_small JAN 24, 2008
Old Bear

If you must play with it… take a screwdriver and adjust the level screw never bend the rod. Due to the pressure of the water on the rod it will slowly rotate and eventually go to a point higher than the original. This can make the toilet run constantly. My brothers ex was hit with a $2000 water bill (over a 3 month period) due to a toilet that kept on running. Other than that it is a great way to save water!

Rethosdefaultavatar_small JAN 31, 2008
Christopher Howse

Treehugger.com hates this post I guess, but I still think it is a great hack for most toilets. Thanks for all the positive responses people. I guess I’ll add that if you have a new model toilet that only uses 1 and a half gallons to flush, you should leave the rod alone. It is already low flow, and you may end up having problems getting it all down. Therefore, you may flush twice. That kind of makes the whole hack pointless. My toilet is olive green, aka, old as hell.

Rethosdefaultavatar_small JAN 31, 2008
Christopher Howse

hmm strange. I guess I accidentally created two profiles at some point. Christopher Howse is me. The creator of this post.




About the $2000 dollar water bill… Does that mean he was not home to hear his toilet running for 3 months? I don’t get it. When a toilet is running it is not silent.

Oh_smurf_gods_thumb JAN 31, 2008
Christopher

hmm… am I me yet?

Oh_smurf_gods_thumb JAN 31, 2008
Christopher

Yay, there I am. This comment and the previous 3 are all mine. I’m done now. All fixed.

Rethosdefaultavatar_small JAN 31, 2008
Old Bear

According to her… she heard the noise but couldnt figure out what it was, to her it sounded like the problem was in the basement. Also she was spending too much time at work to worry about it. It was the toilet at the front of the house on the ground level. It is more outside the house than inside and she almost never used it.




According to the water company she used almost enough water to fill a commercial swimming pool.


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