February 14, 2018 • 6 mins
Automatic-flush toilets are supposed to be more sanitary, but does that come at an environmental price? Learn why phantom flushes happen and what the industry is doing about it in this episode of BrainStuff.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hi brain Stuff,
Lauren vogelbom Here. As the old saying goes, nothing is
certain in this world except death and taxes and the
unnecessary premature flush of an automatic toilet. If you've ever
set foot in a public restroom stall and immediately been
greeted with the jarring sound of a mechanized deluge of water,
(00:24):
you're not alone. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there
are about twenty seven million self flushing toilets just in
the United States, and many of these motion sensor equipped
machines exhibit the disconcerting behavior known as phantom flushing, sometimes
referred to as ghost flushing. This is the phenomenon of
a toilet's water refill valve switching on after a period
of inactivity. It can actually happen in old school manual
(00:47):
flush toilets to due to valve deterioration, but when it
comes to automatic flush toilets, the occurrence seems so common
that it's almost expected, until, of course, you need the flush,
and then the motion sensor seems to fail you in
every way. But why did society decide to move toward
an automated flushing system? In the first place, and has
the move helped or hurt attempts to save water. The
(01:10):
trend toward automatic flush toilets took off in the nineteen nineties.
Touch free bathroom fixtures were marketed as more hygienic options
for high traffic areas like airports, and eventually they were
also touted as water saving solutions in drought affected states
like California. But according to environmental advocates, the original automatic
flush products did nothing to serve the environment. In fact,
(01:31):
the older models were suspected of causing more harm than good.
The e p A even claimed that about twenty six
percent of the twenty seven million automatic flush toilets around
the country flushed at volumes higher than the federal standard,
which is one point six gallons or six leaders per flush,
and that some flushed as much as three to seven
gallons per flush, that's eleven to twenty six leaders. We
(01:51):
spoke with John Kohler, and engineer and water efficiency expert.
He said, when compared to a manual flush toilet, there's
no way that automatic toilets saved water, because what can
be better than a single flush per use? The typical
automatic flush toilets have the propensity to double flush, triple flush,
or even worse due to being out of adjustment, poorly installed,
or poorly maintained. So there's no water conservation benefit with
(02:14):
automatic flush toilets, but there is the potential for water waste.
To quantify just how much water was being wasted, Cohler
and his colleague Bill Gali developed something called the Maximum
Performance or MAP testing protocol to provide an independent assessment
of toilet water efficiency. Armed with the MAP test, Cooler
and Gali conducted one of the only studies to date
examining water used by automatic flush toilets as compared to
(02:36):
manual flush. The pair found in their twenty ten research
that compared to manual flush toilets, automatic toilets increased water
consumption by due to phantom flushing, But according to plumbers
in the field, automatic flushing technology has vastly improved in
the eight or so years since Kohler's research. We also
spoke with Brian Minor, owner of Bay Area based Minor Plumbing.
(02:57):
He said automatic toilets do, in fact save water because
people have a tendency to think that if you hold
the handle down longer, it will have more flushing power. Well,
it's more water, but it certainly isn't more flushing power.
He says that while older automatic models weren't up to task,
newer models are in fact eco friendlier, and although some
have blamed years of phantom flushing from older models on
(03:18):
poor installation and maintenance, substandard technology, and poor training, maybe
the more likely culprits, Miner said plumbers weren't given a
heads up on the new technology. This product was slapped
on our knees and we were left to figure it
out and make it work. That being said, it's really
tough to mess it up and make it so the
toilet is phantom flushing. The blame is really on the product.
It was new and it was faulty. He also said
(03:41):
that installation should always be taken care of by a professional,
although newer automatic models are a lot more user friendly.
Kohler agrees that phantom flushing shouldn't be pinned on plumbers.
He said ignored maintenance, deferred maintenance, or poor maintenance could
all lead to faulty performance of the flush sensor used
to trigger a flush. In addition, many of these so
called automatic flush toilets are installed in toilet rooms subject
(04:03):
to abuse by the public or others. How usage, toilets
need to be monitored for performance by the maintenance personnel
and fixed when needed. This does not always occur in
many installations. Minor also alluded to another reason automatic flushing
toilets may no longer be the major water wasters they
once were. Some brands are partnering with the e p
A to create eco friendly products that are performance tested
(04:25):
and validated by various agencies to meet the e PA's
gold standard High Efficiency. Toilets that meet the e p
A stringent guidelines get a water Sense label, letting customers
know they're purchasing a product that's expert approved and much
less wasteful. Water Sense products flush at one point three
gallons or four point eight leaders per flush, which is
twenty less water than the federal standard, and the e
(04:47):
p A says there's more to save than just water
when purchasing a water Sense product. They estimate that a
ten story office building with one thousand occupants could save
one point two million gallons or four point five million
liters of water and more than ten thousand dollars in
water costs by replacing old automatic flush toilets with water
Sense labeled models, The agency wrote in a statement, if
(05:09):
commercial facilities nationwide replaced all of their older inefficient flush
ometer valve toilets with water Sense labeled models, we could
save nearly thirty nine billion gallons or a hundred and
forty eight billion liters of water per year. That's equivalent
to nearly one full day's flow of water over Niagara Falls.
So if you're planning to purchase your own automatic flushing
toilet at home, be sure you look for the most
(05:31):
up to date products out there, and if you're walking
into an out of date public restroom, beware of phantoms.
Today's episode was written by Michelle Konstantinovski and produced by
Tristan McNeil. For more on this and lots of other
efficient stories, visit our home planet, how stuff works dot
(05:51):
com
Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hi brain Stuff,
Lauren vogelbom Here. As the old saying goes, nothing is
certain in this world except death and taxes and the
unnecessary premature flush of an automatic toilet. If you've ever
set foot in a public restroom stall and immediately been
greeted with the jarring sound of a mechanized deluge of water,
(00:24):
you're not alone. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there
are about twenty seven million self flushing toilets just in
the United States, and many of these motion sensor equipped
machines exhibit the disconcerting behavior known as phantom flushing, sometimes
referred to as ghost flushing. This is the phenomenon of
a toilet's water refill valve switching on after a period
of inactivity. It can actually happen in old school manual
(00:47):
flush toilets to due to valve deterioration, but when it
comes to automatic flush toilets, the occurrence seems so common
that it's almost expected, until, of course, you need the flush,
and then the motion sensor seems to fail you in
every way. But why did society decide to move toward
an automated flushing system? In the first place, and has
the move helped or hurt attempts to save water. The
(01:10):
trend toward automatic flush toilets took off in the nineteen nineties.
Touch free bathroom fixtures were marketed as more hygienic options
for high traffic areas like airports, and eventually they were
also touted as water saving solutions in drought affected states
like California. But according to environmental advocates, the original automatic
flush products did nothing to serve the environment. In fact,
(01:31):
the older models were suspected of causing more harm than good.
The e p A even claimed that about twenty six
percent of the twenty seven million automatic flush toilets around
the country flushed at volumes higher than the federal standard,
which is one point six gallons or six leaders per flush,
and that some flushed as much as three to seven
gallons per flush, that's eleven to twenty six leaders. We
(01:51):
spoke with John Kohler, and engineer and water efficiency expert.
He said, when compared to a manual flush toilet, there's
no way that automatic toilets saved water, because what can
be better than a single flush per use? The typical
automatic flush toilets have the propensity to double flush, triple flush,
or even worse due to being out of adjustment, poorly installed,
or poorly maintained. So there's no water conservation benefit with
(02:14):
automatic flush toilets, but there is the potential for water waste.
To quantify just how much water was being wasted, Cohler
and his colleague Bill Gali developed something called the Maximum
Performance or MAP testing protocol to provide an independent assessment
of toilet water efficiency. Armed with the MAP test, Cooler
and Gali conducted one of the only studies to date
examining water used by automatic flush toilets as compared to
(02:36):
manual flush. The pair found in their twenty ten research
that compared to manual flush toilets, automatic toilets increased water
consumption by due to phantom flushing, But according to plumbers
in the field, automatic flushing technology has vastly improved in
the eight or so years since Kohler's research. We also
spoke with Brian Minor, owner of Bay Area based Minor Plumbing.
(02:57):
He said automatic toilets do, in fact save water because
people have a tendency to think that if you hold
the handle down longer, it will have more flushing power. Well,
it's more water, but it certainly isn't more flushing power.
He says that while older automatic models weren't up to task,
newer models are in fact eco friendlier, and although some
have blamed years of phantom flushing from older models on
(03:18):
poor installation and maintenance, substandard technology, and poor training, maybe
the more likely culprits, Miner said plumbers weren't given a
heads up on the new technology. This product was slapped
on our knees and we were left to figure it
out and make it work. That being said, it's really
tough to mess it up and make it so the
toilet is phantom flushing. The blame is really on the product.
It was new and it was faulty. He also said
(03:41):
that installation should always be taken care of by a professional,
although newer automatic models are a lot more user friendly.
Kohler agrees that phantom flushing shouldn't be pinned on plumbers.
He said ignored maintenance, deferred maintenance, or poor maintenance could
all lead to faulty performance of the flush sensor used
to trigger a flush. In addition, many of these so
called automatic flush toilets are installed in toilet rooms subject
(04:03):
to abuse by the public or others. How usage, toilets
need to be monitored for performance by the maintenance personnel
and fixed when needed. This does not always occur in
many installations. Minor also alluded to another reason automatic flushing
toilets may no longer be the major water wasters they
once were. Some brands are partnering with the e p
A to create eco friendly products that are performance tested
(04:25):
and validated by various agencies to meet the e PA's
gold standard High Efficiency. Toilets that meet the e p
A stringent guidelines get a water Sense label, letting customers
know they're purchasing a product that's expert approved and much
less wasteful. Water Sense products flush at one point three
gallons or four point eight leaders per flush, which is
twenty less water than the federal standard, and the e
(04:47):
p A says there's more to save than just water
when purchasing a water Sense product. They estimate that a
ten story office building with one thousand occupants could save
one point two million gallons or four point five million
liters of water and more than ten thousand dollars in
water costs by replacing old automatic flush toilets with water
Sense labeled models, The agency wrote in a statement, if
(05:09):
commercial facilities nationwide replaced all of their older inefficient flush
ometer valve toilets with water Sense labeled models, we could
save nearly thirty nine billion gallons or a hundred and
forty eight billion liters of water per year. That's equivalent
to nearly one full day's flow of water over Niagara Falls.
So if you're planning to purchase your own automatic flushing
toilet at home, be sure you look for the most
(05:31):
up to date products out there, and if you're walking
into an out of date public restroom, beware of phantoms.
Today's episode was written by Michelle Konstantinovski and produced by
Tristan McNeil. For more on this and lots of other
efficient stories, visit our home planet, how stuff works dot
(05:51):
com
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