Water efficient toilet - retrofitted

Simple, but highly effective

Last week I suffered a common complaint from siphon toilets - that of the failure of the diaphragm. The diaphragm is the only thing that can go wrong with siphon toilets - in most systems it is a thin piece of plastic that can be expected to last 10-15 years. This is preferable to a valve system as these tend to leak and hence are not very water efficient. For example, I have had to clean the seal on the valve in my Mothers' house several times in the past couple of years as she has very hard water. This means that calcium deposits 'furrs' up the seal housing and the seal itself and this means that the toilet is often running small amounts of water constantly.

Anyway, I wanted to stay with a siphon system due to their reliability and efficiency. However, I also wanted an even more reliable and efficient system. So, what better than the excellent Interflush Siphon!?

The Interflush siphon has three advantages that suited my tight-fisted tendencies.

1. It has an everlasting diaphragm - basically it is a pivoted solid piece of plastic (see below)

2. It has an interrupter system - this means that there is a small hole in the siphon that is closed when the handle is held down. So you can adjust the amount of water that you use for flushing. Hold it down for a longer flush and vice versa. There can be no more efficient system.

3. It cost the same as a new replacement siphon!

After draining down the cistern it was an easy job to remove and replace the siphon. No leaks! (this is always a worry when you are changing over water based systems). The new system did however have one small issue. Noise. When we use the short flush the pipes started to hum! Not sure why, but I tweaked the water pressure and it was cured. The dear wife was pleased!

I am not sure whether this product is now available from Interflush, which is a shame, but we have several in the Eco Home Centre shop.

A picture below shows the everlasting siphon:

Can I upcycle a toilet and make it more efficient?

Older toilets use all the water in the cistern when flushed

Upcycling is a great new fad. It is even better when you can make something even more efficient than it was before.  One of the biggest users of water in the home is the toilet and with summer just around the corner it is time to start thinking about saving water. This is especially the case when you have a older toilet combination that is not a dual flush.

Note: Dual flush technology comes in two main types, valve and siphon. Siphon technology is more expensive and so the majority sold are valve. Valves are less reliable due to their reliance on washers. If these fail then they actually use much more water than even the old toilets, due to their continuous leakage. Despite this fact many toilets end up being replaced with new dual flush when they could be upcycled into a more efficient and reliable system with just a simple change in their inner workings.

So how can you upgrade an old toilet into an efficient one?

Interflush have two products that actually make the toilet into a variable flush, so basically you hold down the handle until the pan has cleared and then release it. This means that you only use the minimum amount of water required each time. It doesn't get more efficient than that!!

The two versions have limitations. The replacement siphon type will only fit on a system that has a pipe between the cistern and the pan (i.e. not a close-fit toilet). This system requires the replacement of the whole siphon, but this is a relatively easy task, but it does involve draining down the system.

The replacement siphon system also has an 'everlasting' diaphragm that increases its lifespan

The other main product is a system that fits onto of the existing siphon. This again is an easy DIY task and doesn't involve draining the cistern. It can also be fitted onto close coupled systems. This version, though, does need to be linked to a handle rather than a push button.

The green additions on top of the siphon are the Interflush system.

More information can be found at http://www.interflush.co.uk/

Eco Home Centre sells the bagged kits and also the Replacement Siphon

So basically you can save a lot of hassle and cost by just 'upgrading' an old full flush toilet system with Interflush technology. All UK based as well.

The other issue to bear in mind is that when you replace a toilet you generally have to sort the floor out as well as the new pan will not have the same 'footprint' as the old one, so this will involve replacing / adjusting the floor finish. The old toilet will also be just be disposed as waste, so this is a lot of embodied energy being destroyed as well as the issue of disposal (landfill, recycled if you are lucky).

So why no upcycle your toilet into a highly efficient model at a fraction of the cost of new.