Water Saving Toilets

Do Water Saving Toilets Actually Work to Save Money and Water

This is the question that has haunted us for some time now. There is that one rumor saying that they don’t work because you have to flush two or three times to get everything down, which in turn uses more water than an older toilet and then there are those people who actually have the water saving toilets and say that they work and save money. So who should we believe? Maybe if we saw the facts it would help clear some of this up.

The average national daily water use for toilets is twenty-four gallons of water. To think about it, that is a lot of water being wasted. With the population rising, we need to conserve water since only three percent of the water on Earth is actually drinkable. One way we can conserve water and cut our costs down is to use a toilet with a 1.6-3.5 gallon tank instead of a seven or more gallon tank. That is half or a little more than what we are or were using, and that means less water you have to pay for.
           
After the water usage law of 1992 was passed, people had problems with the plumbing of their new smaller tank toilets. These newer low-flush toilets were not ready to be introduced into the market and that is where the rumor came from which claims that water saving toilets don’t work well. However, things have changed as we’ve progressed with technology. The new low-flush toilets now work better than the old water wasting toilets and that can come as a great relief to our water supply not to mention our pockets.
           
By replacing those old toilets that waste water it can save you an average of one hundred dollars a year, if not more. Of course your savings do vary on where you live because of different utility ratings, how many times the toilet is flushed, and how many people live in your home. Water saving toilets work and you should think about investing in one because it’ll actually save you money and you can do your part in protecting the environment by something so simple and easy to do. Find a plumbing contractor here to install a water saving toilet for you.

(As a personal note, I have two bathrooms and I decided to put in two water saving toilets and as it turns out it has saved me an average twenty dollars a month, which then I can put to use in my gas tank which makes it easier to go back and forth between work.)

To Flush or Not to Flush: How to Dispose of Cosmetics, Cleaning Supplies and Medications

Come on, admit it. Almost all of us are guilty of disposing something down the toilet that we shouldn’t have, one time or another. When we do this, we don’t stop to think about the safety of what we are doing. What is really happening to the things we flush? Read below to know the truth about what to flush or not to flush. If you aren’t sure if something you want to flush is safe, then you should ask a plumber for advice.

Water treatment does not remove the chemicals you flush

Water treatment plants don’t remove medications from wastewater.

Flushing things down the toilet, especially chemicals, whether it be cosmetics,cleaning supplies or medications, could be harmful and eventually end up in the water supply. Most water treatment plants are not designed to destroy or even remove these things from the wastewater.

Flushing medications down the toilet has a number of harmful consequences, and there are probably more that we don’t know about. Some of the harmful consequences include: poisoning aquatic environments and increasing the problem of bacterial resistance to pharmaceuticals.

Flushing cosmetics

These cosmetics contain chemicals that pollute the water supply.

When cosmetics are flushed, it can also poison aquatic environments because cosmetics usually contain chemical substances that are not removed by water treatment. If you have to throw away your lotions, and make-up products, put them in the trash. As of right now, landfills are the best place to dump cosmetics. Landfills are have plastic barriers that separate the garbage and the ground, which, although imperfect, reduces the risk of contaminating the soil and water table.

How to dispose of cleaning supplies

Cleaning chemicals end up in the water supply if your flush them.

Now what happens when we flush cleaning supplies down the toilet? Think of it this way: If cleaning materials cause skin irritation or other problems, imagine what it does to the aquatic life, which is usually more fragile than humans. Just as cleaning supplies can either kill us or make us sick, the same is true for aquatic life and wildlife. This doesn’t even include what the cleaners will do to the plant life. Flushing cleaning supplies down the toilet also runs the risk of corroding your pipes, as certain powerful chemicals damage your pipes over time.

Alternatives to flushing chemicals down the toilet

Only dispose of biodegradable materials in your toilet.

The old way of disposing cosmetics, cleaning supplies and medications was to flush them down the toilet, but now we recommend:

1.Ask your pharmacy about the proper way to dispose of the medication.
2.Seal medication with the childproof caps it came with and then tape it shut before placing it into your trash.
3.Place medications and cosmetics in with your used coffee grounds and throw it in the trash. This provides an unlikely place for people and pets to look through.
4.Place kitty litter in an empty milk container and then pour liquid cleaners or liquid medications into. It will be absorbed, and you won’t have to worry about contaminating the environment.

Please think twice before you flush your medications, cosmetics, and cleaning supplies down the toilet. Our environment is fragile and the only one we have, so lets not ruin it because we cannot dispose of things correctly. As for the cleaners that we use, it’s easy to find environmentally safe ones to cut down the risk of harming our world further.

Check out recipes for cheap, non-toxic cleaning solutions. Learn how to clean with vinegar. Kill mildew naturally.