The Lowdown on Low-Flow Toilets

For the better part of this century, toilets have been a relatively bland and unchanging product. Sure, a homeowner might prefer an elongated bowl to a round bowl, or choose “peach” instead of white, but the basic design of the bowl and tank, and the hardware inside, remained the same. Up until 1975, when pressurizedtank fixtures were introduced, virtually all residential toilets used gravity and five or six gallons of fresh water to rinse the bowl clean and carry the waste down the drain line. Since ball cocks, valves, and other components were standardized, maintenance requirements were more or less the same regardless of the make. So builders and plumbers usually chose toilets on the basis of price and appearance alone. Reinventing