A bit icky this...

mrsdewinter

... But I was wondering, that old hippie cliche - 'if it's yellow, let it mellow' - is that hygienic? It seems a bit wasteful to use however many litres of water to flush down a substance that is largely made up of water, doesn't it?

Húrin

yes, it is, which is why permaculture compost toilets do not involve doing this.

mrsdewinter

But permaculture compost toilets... I imagine they are huge contraptions with the waste dropping a good distance to its final resting place. In an apartment being shared by two people... would it still be okay?

ChocolateSauce

It is perfectly hygienic if a little unsavory. Urine is sterile and therefore does not represent a biological threat. It is only dangerous if ingested, and then only for chemical, not biological reasons.

Macha

Or you can install these:
http://www.meconwml.com/

I have, they work really well.

brianthebard

What does it do tac? Someone on this board said you could stick a water bottle in the cistern so I tried that. I assumed a filled bottle would displace that amount of water and the flush would be less that bottle's worth. turned out that the bottle stopped the ballcock from dropping fully and saves a few litres. Is this ok (ie everything's still "hygienic" and stuff?).
Also OP, if the pee doesn't change the colour of the toilet water don't flush would be the way I approach it....

Macha

Yeah the ole water bottle thing does work, but our cisterns are a funny shape & I couldn't get it to sit in properly. I thought it worked by displacing as well...but I guess blocking the ballcock is fine too.

Basically with these things, you get someone handy with a drill (in this case, my dad) to drill a small hole in the siphon (one of the pipes..), then put the little device through a small hole that already exists in most cisterns (just take the stopper out - I think its the spare handle hole).

To use it, you simply flush the toilet and then push the button in when you think enough water has gone through. It's handy because it's quite flexible (ie you decide when to press the button). Definitely worth the investment for when water charges come in!

Edit: just found an installation video so you don't have to try and figure out what I was saying above! http://www.meconwml.com/mecon-water-saver_Installation_Video.html (has sound)

Del2005

ChocolateSauce wrote: »

It is perfectly hygienic if a little unsavory. Urine is sterile and therefore does not represent a biological threat. It is only dangerous if ingested, and then only for chemical, not biological reasons.

Not quite true. Men's urine is sterile, womens isn't. But it's still water sitting at the bottom of the toilet bowl and I can't remember a time I made contact with it unintentionally.

brianthebard wrote: »

What does it do tac? Someone on this board said you could stick a water bottle in the cistern so I tried that. I assumed a filled bottle would displace that amount of water and the flush would be less that bottle's worth. turned out that the bottle stopped the ballcock from dropping fully and saves a few litres. Is this ok (ie everything's still "hygienic" and stuff?).
Also OP, if the pee doesn't change the colour of the toilet water don't flush would be the way I approach it....

You can just stick a brick(or a couple of bricks) into your cistern. They hold a huge amount of water and won't block anything like a bottle in the water. There're also easy to install;) All you're trying to do is reduce the amount of water flushed

mumhaabu

It is a cache 22 situation as those low flush toilets often have to be flushed twice or thrice to get rid of the waste right. It is only greenwashing and we have absolutely nothing to worry about with water and if half the eco effort was diverted to the economy things might not be as bad now.

Macha

mumhaabu wrote: »

It is a cache 22 situation as those low flush toilets often have to be flushed twice or thrice to get rid of the waste right.

That is not true. Plus if you get one of the doofers I referred to, you can use exactly the right amount.

mumhaabu wrote: »

It is only greenwashing and we have absolutely nothing to worry about with water and if half the eco effort was diverted to the economy things might not be as bad now.

Nonsense. If you're not aware that Dublin and the GDA has serious water issues, you've been living under a rock for the past 3 years.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0822/water.html

The local authorities are in the middle of spending €130m on improving the leakages in the system. Does that mean what residents do in the home has no impact? Of course not. The water that you flush down your toilet is of drinkable quality. It is an absolute sin to use more of it than you need.

Your economy comment is utter rubbish. Firstly, the current economic crisis is based on many events outside the control of the Irish government, including the sub-prime mortgage in the US and the weakened dollar. There are internal factors, such as the bad lending practices of our own lending institutions. Perhaps the government should have put some effort into increasing regulations on this, instead of sitting back and watching the credit bubble grow. Passing legislation doesn't mean you can't deal with environmental issues. It's the government FFS, they're supposed to be able to multitask.

Perhaps if we had put a bit more effort into "eco" issues such as reducing our ridiculously high dependency on expensive, imported fossil fuels, our businesses would be more competitive and would have some sort of insulation against the vaguaries of the price of oil. Instead, we've left ourselves open to huge fines and have had to set aside €millions to purchase carbon credits.

Focusing on the economy and ignoring environmental and social issues is short-sighted and stupid. We've been doing it for the past 15 years and look at the mess we're in now.

Húrin

taconnol wrote: »

Focusing on the economy and ignoring environmental and social issues is short-sighted and stupid. We've been doing it for the past 15 years and look at the mess we're in now.

It's not even worth refuting such flippantly typed comments.

Macha

yeah i know, was just in a bad mood & in serious dissertation-avoidance mode, Will have to disconnect the internet at this rate...

nmacc

Taconnol is absolutely right about the Mecon buttons. I put one on all 3 of the toilets in our house and they work beautifully; the kids took to them immediately.

They've been in for two years now and we've become so used to them that I'm now horrified at the amount of water that I waste when flusing away a wee in someone else's house. Of course they don't fit all toilets as some don't have the unused hole on the other side for the flush handle.

Don't use bricks Del; if they're soaked in water for long enough they can break up and gum up the works with grit.

If a low flush toilet needs several flushes it's usually because the toilet is a cheap and nasty compromise that was never properly designed to work with a low volume of water. There are excellent toliets that will flush a massive steaming turd with the most minute amount of water. I was astonished the first time I used one of these. Naturally they're expensive.

I must admit I find most dual-flush toiets confusing; is the smaller button for the smaller amount of water? Or is is smaller because it's the one you use least and the big, easily-accessible button actually delivers the smaller amount of water?

jcgowran

Hi there nmacc

You are right about the video clip
http://www.meconwml.com/mecon-water-saver_Installation_Video.html
it's as easy as hanging a picture, although some people may think hanging a picture isn't easy. ok it's easier!

All the schools in Galway have the Green Button now. Many of them Green Schools

The difference with the brick is it reduces the flush volume by one litre. The Green Button can save 10litres every flush -for a "wee flush" that is!

jcgowran

Sounds like what they call the "Big Drop" in Australia.
Caution: users are advised not to wear any valuables when using them. Difficult to retrieve any lost property!

jcgowran

With the brick in the cistern, you don't get the big flush when you "sometimes" need it. 1 Litre missing!