Flush toilet

A flush toilet

A flush toilet is a toilet that relies on a flush of water to send waste products away through a drainpipe. It is sometimes called a water closet, or WC, loo, head, the porcelain throne, etc.

Working

A toilet works because of gravity. When a flush lever is pulled, a plug will open, allowing water to flow out to fill the basin. Then the gravity causes the liquid to flow out of the basin through a bend in the pipe, called an S trap. The flush cleans the bowl of the toilet, and under the rim where it is difficult to reach. It carries waste matter to a drain, which then takes it to a treatment plant or septic tank.

A typical toilet. The toilet bowl usually has a ring-shaped seat on top, which is covered by the lid when not in use.

The handle/button, is pressed to flush the toilet. The water used for flushing is stored in the tank (also called a cistern). Some flush toilets operate electronically. When the user moves away, the toilet flushes.

Parts of a typical toilet cistern.

The tank contains some important parts. The inlet valve controls the water supply coming into the tank. It lets water in when the tank is empty, and stops water coming in when the tank is full.

The "'float ball"' rises as the tank fills with water. As it rises, the float rod attached to it presses against the inlet valve. When the tank is full, the rod is pressing against the inlet valve hard enough to turn the water off. This stops the tank from overflowing.

A toilet cistern emptying

When you press the handle, a lever inside the tank pulls the piston up, forcing some water through the siphon. This provides suction in the siphon, and the rest of the water follows, emptying the tank.

The tank empties quite quickly, and the float ball floats to the bottom. That means the float rod is no longer pressing against the valve, so water begins to flow into the tank, filling it up again.

A toilet cistern empty

The water which left the tank goes through a short pipe to the toilet bowl. It sloshes around the rim, down the sides of the bowl, and out through the drainpipe, cleaning the bowl and carrying the waste with it.

Arrows showing the way water flows from the cistern, through the toilet bowl, and out.

Some of the clean water coming behind remains at the bottom of the toilet bowl. That's because modern toilets have an 'S' bend which remains filled with water between flushing. The water in the 'S' bend stops bad odours escaping from the drainpipe. During flushing the 'S' bend also provides siphon action which helps speed up the flushing process.

However, since this type of toilet does not generally handle waste on site, separate waste treatment systems must be built.

Health issues

The toilet has made homes, towns and cities cleaner places to live in. Because water cleans the toilets very well, highly contagious diseases cannot spread as easily as in the past.

However, some toilet flushing can produce very small droplets of water known as aerosols. These aerosols can contain bacteria and viruses that are in the toilet. Because the aerosols float through the air, there is a risk of becoming infected. This has been believed to be a cause for outbreak of atypical pneumonia within several high-rise residential buildings in Hong Kong that are close to each other.

Different flush toilets

Different toilets use different amounts of water per flush, depending on the country or the period. Older models in some countries use 13 or even 19 liters per flush while newer models use 6 liters per flush. Today, some well-designed 6 liter toilets flush better than lesser toilets that use 2-3 times more water per flush. The design of the surfaces that control the flow of water make a big difference.

Some toilets have extra fixtures such as grab-bars for wheelchair users. Some toilets have a water jet built into them like a bidet. Some have heated seats, and lids that open and close automatically. And some will even check your blood pressure and temperature.

Other toilets

Toilets come in many different types. There are chemical toilets, which use chemicals to neutralize the waste instead of water. There are composting toilets, which do not use water and turn the waste into natural compost. There are even incinerating toilets, which burn the waste.

History

The flush toilet were first used in parts of India and Pakistan about 2,700 years ago. The cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro had a flush toilet in almost every house, attached to a sophisticated sewage system. Remains of sewage systems have been found in the houses of the Minoan cities of Crete and Santorini in Greece. There were also toilets in ancient Egypt, Persia and China. In Roman civilization, toilets were sometimes part of public bath houses where men and women were together in mixed company. Toilets are usually connected to a septic tank, or to a sewer.

In 1775 Alexander Cummings invented the S-trap, which is still used today, that used standing water to seal the outlet of the bowl, preventing the escape of foul air from the sewer. His design had a sliding valve in the bowl outlet above the trap.

Some ideas and inventions had to be developed before it could be created: To have a flush toilet in one's house, first of all one has to have fresh and clean water supply. A better organization of the cities was needed for that. The lever and the siphon also had to be invented before the flush toilet could have come into being.

WC helps public health of today to keep higher standards than in the past. That allows us today to live in much bigger cities than in the past, not being afraid of getting sick: beyond a certain population cities and villages would be at risk of epidemics before toilets were widespread.

Big cities were a requirement to start the industrial revolution in the 1800s. Although WC seems to be an invention of minor importance, its impact to our modern world was quite great. The toilet has also created a whole new profession like plumber and his associated industry.