Ever look to see how much water you use every time you flush the toilet?

[Cant trust em]

Just now, I had the tank open to make sure that everything was working correctly. It just struck me how much water is used every time I flush. This was at my office too, where it goes through dozens of flushes each day.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Yup.

Our city mandated low-flow toilets, and ours comply.

It uses 1.6 gallons per flush.

[Cant trust em]

3. Damn you California socialist and your draconian rules!

I should be able to waste as many of our precious resources as my black heart desires!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. ROFL!

Suuuuuuuuure you should, baby!

:rofl: :rofl:

[OnlinePoker]

13. Due to fears of future water shortages...

...the region of Victoria, BC mandated a similar plan for new home construction and also offered rebates for existing homeowners to convert their toilets to low flow as part of a major conservation scheme. The plan was too successful. Water consumption has dropped so much in the last two years that the water district is in a negative cash-flow situation. As of the 31st of December, all water reduction incentives will cease and (if I remember the story correctly), our water rates are going up.

[damntexdem]

2. If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down.

But don't let the yellow mellow too long, either.

[stuntcat]

7. right on, heheee!!

I thought my aunts made that up, but lately other people say it.

[joshcryer]

8. That's what I do and water is included in rent here.

It may be canceled out by my long showers though. :(

[Lionel Mandrake]

9. The longer it mellows, the more it stinks,

thanks to an enzyme (urease) produced by green plants, which converts urea to ammonia.

Here's a modest proposal: lets get rid of all plants; then we wouldn't have to flush our toilets so often.

[Nihil]

11. No need to get rid of all of them ... just the ones in your toilet bowl!

:P

[subterranean]

4. I filled up a 1-gallon bottle with water and put it in the tank.

That's one less gallon used with every flush.

[XemaSab]

6. I had teh low-flow when I lived down south

Having to flush several times to get it all down is not really water-saving.

Also, the water that goes down the john just goes right back in the river.

Suck on that, Anderson, Cottonwood, Red Bluff, Los Molinos, Corning, Hamilton City, Chico, Princeton, Colusa, Grimes, Knights Landing, Sacramento, and points south! :D

[diane in sf]

10. 1.7 gallons--it's a toto and works with only one flush no matter what you put in it!

[madokie]

12. better yet look at your bill and see how much you use each month

easily broken down to the day, that'll floor you I bet cause it did me when I did that

[Gregorian]

14. Take this thinking to more things.

Sadly we don't teach living in a modern society in school. But that's why I got a degree in mechanical engineering. I wanted to know exactly what goes on.

Not just water, but air, and fuel, among many things.

Think about the process that it takes in order to produce your tires. Or just go back to the toilet. That is good enough for this kind of thinking.

Just look at the porcelain. Mining. Refining. Transporting. Firing. Transporting to major ports. Transporting to major distributors. Transporting to sales outlets. Transporting to customers/contractors. Installation.

And then there is the not just the water, but the distribution of the water. And the pressurization to get it to you. Every time you flush you make a giant generator increase it's current through it's windings. Not really, but effectively that's the case. In San Francisco there are still miles of redwood pipes that are under the ground. They can't be replaced except by huge cost, effort, disruption.

Car tires. Glass. Steel. All most of us see is a final result/product. Some of us cringe because we see it all. And that includes disposal.

I took a thermodynamics course that discussed petroleum production and use. It takes fuel to produce fuel. It's hardly worth doing. In fact, as we're now learning, it's impossible. It doesn't work for this many people. This many people can't have this artificial, modern lifestyle. Not without destruction of the planet.

I was raised with this knowledge. Most people are just starting to see. I've discovered that the indigenous people of the world are way ahead of us so-called modern people. They're in the UN trying to get control over the lands that sustain them. All while Exxon and Mobil are trying desperately to take them away so we can flush our toilets.