How do high-efficiency toilets work?
The high-efficiency toilet market is expanding rapidly. Four technologies have emerged in high-efficiency toilet design: dual-flush, pressure-assist, single-flush gravity, and flushometer valve. Dual-flush and pressure-assist are most common. A dual-flush high-efficiency toilet is a gravity-flush toilet that saves water by offering different flush volumes: a full-flush for solids and a half-flush for liquids. The pressure-assist high-efficiency toilet has a sealed compartment inside the tank that contains air and becomes pressurized when water from the supply line fills the compartment. When the flush button is pressed, pressurized air exerts force on the water in the compartment and water shoots into the bowl. The pressure-assist fixture creates a fast flush with a “wooshing” sound. What they lack in quietness, they make up for in water savings. Although these toilets will be slightly louder than standard gravity-flush toilets, they use just under 1 gallon per flush.
