Toilet Information

Toilet Links

Toilets for nontraditional plumbing

Consumers who need a toilet for the basement or spare room have some alternatives to traditional toilets. For instance, Saniflo toilets require no floor drain. This toilet can be easily installed in less than a day. Waste is flushed out of the back of the toilet into a box where it is ground up. The result is pumped through a narrow discharge pipe (approximately 1 inch wide) to the household soil stack, septic tank or sewer. This completely reversible system doesn't require breaking into the floor, and it works as far as 9 feet below the sewer level (and up to 150 feet away). The cost is $600 to $1,000 depending on the Saniflo model.

If your home (or garage, workshop or remote cabin) lacks plumbing entirely, compositing toilets are another option. As the name indicates, these toilets reduce the waste being produced by turning it into usable compost. Composting toilets do not seem to be a viable alternative for most people, however. According to the editors of Composting Toilet World, most authorities forbid the use of composting toilets if a sewage system is available. However, they are an option in cabins or shelters in remote areas where installing a traditional toilet would be impossible.

If you're interested in composting toilets, we found some good general information. The green-building website Oikos.com offers some solid explanations on how composting toilets work.

Wikipedia has a page on composting toilets, along with some manufacturer links.

Laura Allen has an article on GreywaterGuerrillas.com about eco-toilets and composting entitled "The Poop and Pee Revolution: Ecological Toilets for Everyone!"

HowStuffWorks.com has an article on the basics of how a regular toilet works. It includes an animated diagram (with a button that encourages readers to "click to flush") to demonstrate the many parts and mechanisms involved in a toilet's basic operation.

The Maximum Performance (MaP) Testing of Popular Toilet Models report is sponsored by 22 organizations in the U.S. and Canada, including the Alliance for Water Efficiency. Engineers test more than 1,200 toilets on their ability to remove solid waste in a single flush. A chart in PDF format makes it easy to compare models based on performance, although the amount of information presented can appear overwhelming at first.

Fine Homebuilding's Kitchen & Bath Planning Guide 2010 is available for purchase online and at home improvement stores. It has helpful explanations and graphics showing how the different types of toilets work.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website discusses the WaterSense certification process for toilets. Qualifying toilets must have a maximum flush volume of 1.28 gallons and the ability to remove at least 350 grams of solid waste per flush.

You can find toilet specifications and measurements on the following manufacturers' websites:

American Standard Brands was formed by a merger of American Standard Americas, Crane Plumbing and Eljer in February 2008. Other brands include Crane, Porcher and Jado.

American Standard

Eljer is a U.S.-based toilet manufacturer that is part of the American Stand Brands family of companies.

Sancor Industries makes Envirolet brand compositing toilets.

Gerber Plumbing Fixtures, has three pressure-assist product lines (the Ultra Flush 1.6 gpf, Ultra Dual-Flush 1.6/1.1 gpf and Ultra Flush 1.1 gpf) and three 1.6 gpf gravity product lines,( Avalanche, Viper and Maxwell) as well as the PeeWee is child-size toilet. Gerber's ErgoHeight designs are ADA-compliant.

Kohler Co. is a well-recognized name in toilets.

Mansfield Plumbing Products operates a plumbing fixtures plant in Ohio.

Saniflo makes toilets with a macerating system.

Toto is a Japanese toilet manufacturer that operates a U.S. manufacturing plant in Georgia.