Construction & Contractors Blog
If you're looking for a bathroom fixture that lets you save money on your water bills, you may want to consider replacing your current toilet with a pressure-assisted one. A pressure-assisted toilet has a cylinder in the toilet tank that's connected to a one-way air inducer valve — the valve lets air into the cylinder but does not let it escape.
As the cylinder fills with water, the air stuck in the cylinder becomes compressed. When you flush the toilet, the compressed air forcefully pushes the water into the toilet bowl, moving waste and toilet paper into your home's sewer line. Since the water is under pressure, these toilets are able to use less water and provide better flushing performance at the same time. If you're interested in replacing your home's toilet with a pressure-assisted model, read on to learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of the upgrade.
Advantages of Pressure-Assisted Toilets
The main advantage of upgrading to a pressure-assisted toilet is that you'll save a substantial amount of water. Many pressure-assisted toilets use only one gallon of water per flush. All gravity-flush toilets use more, even the high-efficiency models. Pressure-assisted toilets don't rely on quickly filling the bowl with a large volume of water in order to flush waste, so they're able to use significantly less. When you upgrade to a pressure-assisted toilet, your household water usage will go down and your water bills will be lower.
Pressure-assisted toilets also clog less often than gravity-flush toilets due to the fact that waste is pushed forcefully into your sewer line. Gravity-flush toilets often clog when there's an obstruction in the toilet trap since they're not able to generate very much pressure when you flush them. The fact that pressure-assisted toilets don't clog very often is one of the reasons why they're commonly installed in commercial buildings — the maintenance staff doesn't have to spend as much time fixing backed-up toilets and removing clogs when pressure-assisted toilets are installed. If you clog your toilet often, whether it's due to using large amounts of toilet paper or aging plumbing pipes in your home, upgrading to a pressure-assisted toilet can help prevent frequent clogs.
One of the things people experience with pressure-assisted toilets is that they're quite loud. The force of the pressurized water entering the toilet bowl makes quite a bit of noise. Some pressure-assisted toilets also make loud noises when the pressurized cylinder inside the tank is drawing in air and compressing it. If your bathroom is located right next to your bedroom, the noises that a pressure-assisted toilet makes can be quite annoying when someone is trying to sleep. Thankfully, you can avoid this problem by purchasing a newer pressure-assisted toilet that's designed for residential use — noise is less of a concern in commercial buildings, so commercial models often don't make any attempt to limit flushing noises.
Disadvantages of Pressure-Assisted Toilets
One main potential problem with pressure-assisted toilets is that they rely on the water pressure in your home's supply pipes in order to create pressure in the toilet tank. If the water pressure in your home is very low, the toilet may not be able to generate enough pressure in order to flush effectively. Before you purchase a pressure-assisted toilet, measure the water pressure at your toilet supply line to make sure it's above the toilet manufacturer's required pressure levels.
While pressure-assisted toilets may be more expensive than gravity-flush ones, you'll be able to save a significant amount of water by upgrading, and you'll also reduce the chances of your toilet clogging. As long as your home's water pressure meets the toilet manufacturer's minimum requirements, you're able to easily replace any gravity-flush toilet with a pressure-assisted one. If you're looking for a bathroom fixture upgrade that lets you save water and avoid the hassle of frequently having to plunge a clogged toilet, replace your current toilet with a pressure-assisted one. For more information, contact a bathroom fixture supplier.
Share19 April 2021
My name is Debbie Greenberg. I’m a single woman who owns her home, and like most homeowners I dread home repairs. I’m not very handy with do-it-yourself projects around the house. I can do a few minor repairs when necessary, but for the most part I have to call in a professional. Last year I had a leak in my roof. When it rained, water would leak into my kitchen. What appeared to be a simple fix turned out to be anything but simple. It took over four months to finally identify the problem, and double the money I was initially quoted to fix it. The problem ended up being that the flat part of my roof didn't have shingles, but a sheeting material. I learned a bit about home roofs along the way, and that is what I want to share with you.
