Ah, the mystery of the toilet.  Push a button, press a lever, pull a chain and your waste magically disappears.  In this age of computers and plastics, the toilet is a dinosaur of modern invention, essentially unchanged in a hundred years.  Despite this, most people have a lack of understanding about the basic mechanics of the throne.

The modern toilet came about with the advent of pressurized plumbing.  Before that, chamber pots ruled the day among city dwellers and the wealthy, outhouses among those with the space for them.  The idea of a sewer line has a 1000 year history; in some towns there are still outdoor public urinals, basically a place to relieve yourself in a man-made river.  Eventually, sewer lines were installed in most homes and toilets became the norm.

Though often credited with the invention of the flush toilet, Thomas Crapper was only the producer of the most popular toilet of the late 1800’s.  His name lives on today in our slang.  The toilet he marketed was very similar to the ones we use today and consisted of a tank and a bowl.

The toilet tank itself it a marvel of simplicity.  A movable gasket covers the hole that leads to the bowl.  When you lift it, the water rushes down and the gasket falls over the hole again.  Inside the tank there is also a floatation device that is connected to a valve that shuts off the water.  As the level of water goes up, the valve closes.  There are some new takes on this, such as a device that measures the weight of the water above it.  I’ve used these with great success.  I have yet to see one fail though I am curious about what happens when they do and if the type of spectacular failure they could have is worth the increased convenience.

So after the water rushes into the bowl, it exits through the bottom through the P-trap that is cast into the porcelain and down into the sewer.  The P-trap is a bend in a pipe that goes down, then up and back down again.  The point is to trap enough water to block any sewer gases that might want to find their way back into your home.  All of your water fixtures have these, as you can easily see under your sink and may be able to see in the casting of your toilet.

Lastly, as the water rushes down past the bottom edge of your toilet, it passes a giant wax ring that it used to prevent leaks between where your toilet and the pipe meets.  When the toilet is installed, the plumber will place this ring on the floor and lower your toilet onto it, squeezing it to create a seal.  Your pipe coming out of the floor will also have a ring on it that holds 2 bolts that stick up, so your toilet can be bolted in place to keep it from moving and disturbing the wax.

As promised, I’m taking a look today at hot water and how to make it hot.  We know that most of the water that comes into your house is about 40-60 degrees, depending on the season, how deep your incoming water line is, etc.  So how do we turn that tepid water into a nice warm bath?

Most people are familiar with a standard hot water heater.  Basically, your hot water heater is connected to the water coming in from the city and is pressurized at the same level as the city water system.  When you open your tap, the pressurized water comes out and the city pumps more water into your tank.  This is something like putting a giant kettle on your stove and keeping it warm all the time for when you need it.  It works, but it’s not particularly efficient.  BTW, if you have an electric hot water heater, you should probably change it if you have gas anywhere near your property.  The cost of these things is unbelievable.

Next is a tankless hot water heater.  There are electric and gas versions of these.  The idea behind them is that if you superheat a pipe and run water through it, it will heat very quickly, but you’re not paying to keep the water hot while you’re away.  In the comments below, I’ll get into the wonkiness of delta Ts and flow rates.  The advantage of a tankless hot water heater is that you can (mostly) get an endless supply of hot water.

Also in the hot water heater family is another type called the point of service (POS) hot water heater.  If you turn on the tap in a sink that is far away from the heater, you can run a few gallons down the drain before your hot water arrives.  Even when it does, you may have to wait longer still as the water is being cooled by the pipe as it travels, so you need to get the pipe nice and hot as well.  (Note: this is becoming less of a problem with the new PEX piping systems, but since most of still have copper or (gasp!) galvanized, it is an issue.)  POS hot water heaters eliminate this.  These little bad boys will attach to your water line just below your sink and heat the water at the sink and shut off once preheated water reaches them.  I like these guys a lot, especially for smaller buildings where there is no point in putting in a circulating system.

Last one up is the solar hot water heater.  This is almost never used alone, but in conjunction with a tank or a tankless system, they can save up to 80% on your water heating costs.  Basically, they operate like a tankless heater, where the water from the city passes through a series of tubes that are heated by the sun so the water is preheated.

There are all types of combinations of these systems as well, with tankless heaters that have a small tank attached, solar heaters that feed a tank and a tankless heater that draws off of that, or other combinations of solar, tankless, tanks and POS heaters.

How is your water heated?