Tag Archive for: toilet

TP! Please RT!

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We’ve already noted the twittering water meter and the twittering toilet; naturally it was a matter of time before someone twittered from the toilet. Now if this doesn’t prove the awesome power of social networking, I don’t know what will. From boingboing.net via The Presurfer (and already re-tweeted with the ferocity of the stomach flu),

naika_tei is a Twitter user and anime song DJ in Tokyo. Last week, he found himself stranded in the third floor toilet of an electronics store in Akihabara with a soiled ass and no toilet paper. So he sent out this tweet: “[Urgently needed] toilet paper in the 3rd floor toilet of Akiba Yodobashi.” Five minutes later, he sent another desperate tweet.

18 minutes later, he sends another tweet saying: “The toilet paper arrived safely! Thank you very much!” Hooray for helpful Twitter followers.

The Next Big Thing: Toilet Tank Billboards

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You see just a plain toilet. A visionary entrepreneur, though, sees a new space available to make money with ads. The 15,000+ attendees at the PPAI* Expo in Las Vegas must have had their heads spinning with thoughts of a royal flush of untapped opportunity for these imprintable toilet tank covers…although it seems there’s something not quite right with the design concept, at least for women…hmmmm. Read more

Vote YES for bottled water here

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Ryan on PicasaWeb notes, “I prefer to drink bottled water away from home” And along with his photo taken in England as evidence, we’re not prepared to argue with him!

Wild Recycling: Flush Away Cancer

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I’m always on the lookout for new ideas on how to recycle old toilets (like this and this) and “Flush Away Cancer” demonstrates wild and wonderful out-of-the-bowl thinking on creative loo reuse.

Traveling Toilet photo via www.wbng.com

Traveling Toilet photo via www.wbng.com

For the Tri-Town (New York) Relay for Life, one team has conceived the hysterical “Traveling Toilet.” to raise funds. For a $10 donation, the team will plant a brightly painted toilet on the lawn of your choice. The receiver of the “Traveling Toilet” either donates $10 to have it removed, or can send it to the next location of their choice for a $15 donation.

Sounds like a lot of fun, especially since all money benefits the American Cancer Society. And if you’re like me, you immediately began compiling a mental list of people that you WISH you could put on the receiving end!

Happy Fix a !$@# Leak Week

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If you’re looking for a happy-clappy everything-went-perfect DIY inspirational story, better keep looking! (Although in this story, we do live happily ever after in the end.)

For “Fix a Leak Week” I was armed and READY. Before we discovered it, our running toilet leak had caused us to lose about 6 gallons of water an hour, every single hour, around the clock…or, 144 gallons per day, which would be enough to add one Australian to my household.

This seemed the perfect opportunity to install a dual-flush retrofit kit. For $28.00 from Amazon.com we’re poised to be as cool as a hip, pseudo-European hotel! The One2Flush is SIMPLE TO INSTALL, and says so right there on the box.

dual flush toilet kit

It’s 8:30 am and I’ve got all my tools and supplies laid out as neat as a surgeon’s tray. I’m a little worried that the One2Flush box looks like it has previously been opened; there’s only basic instructions on the box, which directs us to an online video for more detailed guidance.

Get real, who the !@#$# can work on a toilet while following video instructions online? Whatever, we’ll wing it. After all, this isn’t my first toilet repair dance.

dual flush toilet kit parts

So let’s get at it—the daughter tells me she’d like to take a shower and I assure her I’ll certainly be finished in an hour or so.

First, I turn off the water supply valve on the wall and begin sponging out the excess water from the tank and the bowl.

Strange…I’m sponging and sponging and sponging but STILL there’s water the in bottom. Hmmm. How can that be, with  the water supply valve turned off?

Aurghhh, I see why when I remove the supply line from the tank, it’s because the supply valve also has an !@#$# leak! I scramble for MORE old towels because the !@#$# water is spreading all over the floor! Suddenly it’s a Fix a Leaks Week celebration extravaganza!

toilet water supply line leak

Tough up, team! This unexpected setback will not defeat us but we will now work much faster. So I loosen and remove the disgusting bolts connecting the tank and bowl and lift it off. Observation: the areas behind, between and underneath this 80s-era toilet tank have never, never, ever been cleaned. I feel a little sick.

I plead for the spouse to bring some hand sanitizer. Next I lay the tank over across the toilet seat and remove the so-called “valve nut” from the bottom of the tank. Or, try to. This thing is ON TIGHT and I don’t happen to have a wrench the size of my fist.

So instead, I employ the DIY-ers secret ace weapon: brute force. I knock it for a bit with a hammer and screwdriver until it loosens and I can remove it. (Note in the photo, !@#$# leak number 2 is dripping away into the tank lid.)

OK! Now I can remove the old hardware in the tank, along with the old flush handle assembly. GAG, what’s all that black slime everywhere? It is the by-product of this disintegrating seal, the evil source of my original leak!

Nasty! Now I have to stop and clean up all that black goo from my hands, clothes, floor and toilet bowl. Aurghh, I am TRASHING my fresh manicure!!!

With the clock ticking and the supply line dripping, all this picture-taking was becoming cumbersome, so here we’ll just skip ahead and to where the praise and accolades rain down. (You can watch the aforementioned video if you’re curious!) Here’s my new dual flush retrofit, installed and ready to go, with only a couple minor hitches getting it in!

All that’s left to do is tighten up the tank bolts, reconnect the water line and triumphantly open the floodgates! Turn that water on, yea! Look at me, baby, I “Fixed a Leak!” Woot Woot!

Water on! I’m proud and mesmerized as I watch the tank fill and can’t wait to try it! Almost full…done! Uh…wait. What’s that? I can hear it: drip….drip….drip. What the !@#$#, THE TANK IS LEAKING!!! FROM AN ENTIRELY NEW PLACE, RIGHT ONTO THE FLOOR! ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE ALSO LEAKY SUPPLY LINE!!!

And now I see it. THE CRACK. I CRACKED THE !@#$# TANK! I over-tightened the bolts and it CRACKED THE !@#$# TANK!!!

I shamelessly howl and moan. So now what? Turn the !@#$# water off again. More towels. More profanity. I’m Googling “how to fix a cracked water tank.” And it doesn’t take long to determine that this is a fatal error. It’s nearly impossible to repair a cracked tank, and newer toilet designs mean I have to replace the entire toilet and not just the tank. So the next step…

At my neighborhood big box, the cheapest dual flush is $250 so this got-it-all model for $98 is looking pretty good–5-star flush performance, elongated, comfort height, Water Sense. And hopefully, leak free.

So to summarize: 3 leaks, 7 hours, $138.00, 2 trips to the big box, dozens of profanities, ruined manicure; and in the end, leaks fixed.

So you could say I was ultimately successful, but next year around my house we’ll be celebrating “Call a Plumber Week.”

Oh, and in case you’re wondering…before removal, I did test out the short-lived dual flush…and it did seem to work as advertised, !@#$# crack and all.

Flush with the Success of Twitter

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Debugging the Twittering ToiletWow, Twitter is overloaded with crap! Seriously! One resourceful, twitter-hating hacker has conceived and built a toilet that tweets with every flush! (We previously blogged on a tweeting water meter here.)

Declaring it “more useful and relevant than just about everything else on twitter,” the inventor has posted detailed instructions in case you’d like to try it on your own. You can also follow the Web 2.0-water closet on Twitter (@hacklabtoilet) but it appears that “John” has been “down for repairs” since last summer. (Via an article on Huffington Post about High-Tech Toilets.)

Art Lovers: Urine for An Unusual Sight

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Art you can use…if you dare! The most interesting thing about this 2005 installation is that it was a fully functional facility, “open to both sexes.” Thanks to Brian Banks for alerting us to American Standard by Vancouver, Canada artist Reece Terris. (Matchmaking opportunity! Reece, there may be a perfect-fit project waiting for you in Toronto!)

From the artist’s website www.reeceterris.com,

American Standard is an installation that featured fifteen functional urinals arranged in a pyramid formation on the wall of the men’s washroom in the Alexander Centre studio at Simon Fraser University.  Transforming the facility into a public indoor fountain, water overflowed from the uppermost urinal and splashed its way down through the formation creating a deluge of water flooding the sunken floor. Visitors enter the space via tiled stepping stones, providing access directly to the sink and preexisting toilet, leaving the facility fully functional and open to both sexes.

At the same page, don’t miss the embedded video which includes the installation in action; this does the work far better justice than these still photos.)

Wonderful World of Disney Toilets

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In the fanciful land of Disney they don’t use indelicate words for human waste! Call it something less offensive, like, # One and # Two! Think of the children! Urine, feces, excrement…they’re all such embarrassing, un-family-friendly words!

Spotted at the downtown Los Angeles Disney concert hall, from la.metblogs.com

Halloween Costumes for the Water Obsessed

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Halloween is this Saturday! You haven’t gotten your costume together yet, you say? Thinking you’re “too serious” to dress up at all? Here are some costume ideas that will show the world you’re thinking about water all the time, all day every day, holidays included. (It goes without saying that many of these hunks of polyester and foam do not come in “green” and are quite unsustainable.)

Just consider this an investment in Halloween for the next several decades. This Raindrop costume from animalmascots.com is pricey at $1,279. (Don’t forget to include in your budget add-on expenses for the carrying case ($199) and “cooling vest” ($119).

Also from animal mascots.com; the $1,195 water bottle costume. Expensive, but pure…just like real bottled water! You’ll likely need the same budget-busting accessories as above.

The “Caught in the Rain” costume from spicylegs.com is only $17.91, but remember…it includes: Wig, Tie, and Umbrella but does not include shirt, pants, shoes or newspaper!

This fanciful Water Fairy creation from Kyotosong on Etsy is multiple shades of blue and white shimmery tulle that gives the appearance of water. Lillies with “water drops” accent the front of the dress as well as the wings. The wings are painted to match, with glitter accents and “water drops”. A reasonable $45 for this handcrafted item.

This blue fish mascot costume from milanoo.com “makes you vivid.” The head is shaped by special foam all covered with plush. The soles of the feet are water-proof, which is funny if you think about it. $125.99 and it’s yours.

This Toilet costume from costumecraze.com apparently does not come in dual flush. It’s $64.99, and not surprisingly, is in stock.

For this Toilet Paper costume you can do it the old-fashioned way and make it yourself for about $35, directions on instructables.com.

You Always Go First at All Nippon Airways

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Soon, will your airfare include an additional fee for “holding it?” Maybe, now that Japan’s All Nippon Airways has started asking passengers to go to the toilet before boarding because…they want to reduce carbon emissions! (Just think of the greenwashing potential…ANA: we’re working hard to address Carbon Leak issues!) From The Daily Mail (UK):

All Nippon Airways (ANA) claims that empty bladders mean lighter passengers, a lighter aircraft and thus lower fuel use. Airline staff will be present at boarding gates in terminals to ask passengers waiting to fly to relieve themselves before boarding, The Independent reported.

ANA hopes the weight saved will lead to a five-tonne reduction in carbon emissions over the course of 30 days. The airline began the policy on October 1, according to Japan’s NHK television.

Although it is intended as an experiment lasting one month and 42 flights, the trial may be extended if it is well-received by passengers and if results are positive. Based on an average human bladder capacity of 15oz, if 150 passengers relieved themselves on board an aircraft, this would amount to 63.7kg of waste.

Think about it! 63.7kg, (which is 140 lbs) means that All Nippon could transport an additional paying passenger whose weight could be totally offset by all that urine that stays on the ground! That’s an idea that could go right to the bottom-line! (tee hee)

Intriguing, but let’s look at the total picture, that of 150 flushes at both ends of the terminal, or approximately 360 gallons of water assuming a very-efficient 1.2 gallons per flush. We’ll all be stamping our carbon feet either way; it’s simply a matter of who will pay for it. Our policy at Thirsty in Suburbia? “Go where you wanna go, do what you need to do.”