Conserve Water with a Dual-Flush Toilet
Dual flush toilets are consistently proving to be highly beneficial in conserving water and preserving the environment. The original design was made in Australia in 1980 by Bruce Thompson in an effort to cope with the county’s limited fresh water supply. It was then redesigned in 1993 and was proven to save up to 67% of water usage in homes. Since 1993, more and more countries have been catching on and using the dual-flush toilet as a means to go green and preserve our world’s fresh water supply.
How a Dual-Flush Toilet Works
Dual flush toilets differ from the traditional siphon flush toilet in that it has two buttons for releasing water, one for liquid waste and one for solid waste. It allows for water output in .8 gallon and 1.6 gallon capacities with the smaller being for liquid waste and the larger being for solid. The older, traditional style, toilets can use 3 gallons per flush whether the waste is solid or liquid. That is twice the amount that dual flush toilets use for solid waste.
The dual flush also relies more on gravity to rid the toilet of waste rather than siphoning like more traditional toilets. Furthermore it uses a larger 10 cm trap way inside the bowl to allow water to come out faster and clean the bowl better.
How it Impacts the Environment
Having the option of using different amounts of water capacity allows users to use the minimal amount of water necessary to get rid of the waste. Let’s say a person flushes liquid 2 times a day and flushes solid 1 time a day. That is a total of 3.2 gallons of water used by the dual flush toilet and 9 gallons used by a regular toilet. That is nearly 6 gallons of water saved by a single person in a day by using an eco-friendly dual flush.
Over the course of a week that is just shy of 41 gallons of fresh water saved and over 2,110 gallons in a year by one person. Imagine if just 1% of Americans used dual flush toilets in their homes on a regular basis. With a population of around 315 million that mean 3.15 million people could save as much as 6.6 billion gallons of water a year.
Earth is estimated to be covered in 75% water. Less than 3% of that water is fresh water for our daily uses and only about 1% of that water is drinkable. As the population of Earth grows it will become more and more important to conserve substances that are as essential to our survival as water is. A dual flush toilet allows you to do so without even having to change your daily routine.