So how does California deal with a drought?

Alex · 10-16-2007, 07:01 PM

If you have a modern low flow toilet (and if you're toilet is newer than 1994 it should be) you probably don't want to do the "brick in the tank" trick since it will probably reduce the flush capacity to the degree that you're flushing multiple times which ends up using even more water (and this is a problem with poorly made low flow toilets without even putting a brick in).

Second, don't actually use a brick. Bricks dissolve in water and can damage the toilet tank when chunks get into places they shouldn't. Also, a standard brick doesn't really displace that much water. If you have a pre-1994 toilet then you can put something of larger displacement capacity that won't dissolve (such as a ballasted gallon milk jug) in there. Of course, if you're committed, simply replacing the old 3.5 or 5 gallon per flush with a modern low flow toilet would probably be a better idea.

There's no reason for every shower to be a luxurious experience and it really shouldn't take more than five minutes and if you start taking a "navy shower" you can cut water use from 60 gallons for a 10 minute shower down to 3 (in a navy shower you use water to get wet and rinse off and turn it off the rest of the time).

10-16-2007, 07:01 PM	#1
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	If you have a modern low flow toilet (and if you're toilet is newer than 1994 it should be) you probably don't want to do the "brick in the tank" trick since it will probably reduce the flush capacity to the degree that you're flushing multiple times which ends up using even more water (and this is a problem with poorly made low flow toilets without even putting a brick in). Second, don't actually use a brick. Bricks dissolve in water and can damage the toilet tank when chunks get into places they shouldn't. Also, a standard brick doesn't really displace that much water. If you have a pre-1994 toilet then you can put something of larger displacement capacity that won't dissolve (such as a ballasted gallon milk jug) in there. Of course, if you're committed, simply replacing the old 3.5 or 5 gallon per flush with a modern low flow toilet would probably be a better idea. There's no reason for every shower to be a luxurious experience and it really shouldn't take more than five minutes and if you start taking a "navy shower" you can cut water use from 60 gallons for a 10 minute shower down to 3 (in a navy shower you use water to get wet and rinse off and turn it off the rest of the time).
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