Plumbing and The Real World.

  I got back Tuesday morning from a trip to Hawaii.  When I got back, I discovered the toilet was not working.  Actually, the inside piece broke so when you flushed the toilet, water sprayed out all over the place and would not stop running unless you turned the water off.

So on a trip to town, I purchased a new ring set and a new internal flush mechanism but when it came time to remove the screws at the base, I made several discoveries:

1.  There were cracks on the part of the toilet where the water flushes down.
2.  The bolts holding the toilet down had rusted completely.
3.  They don't make the old fashioned floater insides any more.

At this point I went shopping for a new toilet and discovered you can't buy one that flushes more than 1.6 gallons of water?  What is that in ounces or cups?  Most were either 1.1 or 1.28 gallons per flush.  I looked at duel flush which do 1.1 gpf if you only have liquids or the 1.6 gpf if you drop a solid in where as others used 1.28 gpf no matter what.

Then you had the ones which sprayed water out the bottom which supposedly increases the power of the flush or one that had a larger whole so water flushes with a higher pressure.  Most toilets give the gallons per flush but not the pounds per square inch of pressure.  I got some funny looks when I asked the sales people at the local hardware chains.

The price of toilets ranged from about $95 to $350 depending on type and brand.  I ended up paying $107 for a duel flush toilet.  It was easy to install because it came in pieces. The base, the water reserve, and the seat. 

With a bit of imagination, I can come up with math problems for replacing a toilet.  Now as far as all ready created problems, Robert Kaplinsky has one for comparing toilets.  Its well done and very open ended.  I went through trying to figure out which one would do what I needed.  I'd never thought about doing it this way.

This is the only one I found dealing directly with the toilets.  The other problems I found dealt with which toilet is the best if you have lots of port-a-potties at an event.  

Let me know what you think.  I love real world problems.  Have a great weekend.