Eco Bathrooms – Part 3 – The WC

Your toilet can use up to a quarter of your total household water use and the older your toilet is, the more water it uses per flush.  What can you do to save water? 

1. Add a flush control onto your WC

For WCs with a front flush handle, a control can be added to alter the flush amount.  Reducing water flow in older WCs can reduce their effectiveness and may become unhygienic.  Check with the manufacturer for suitability.

2. Adapt your WC cistern

Place brick or water filled plastic bottle in the bottom – using less water to flush.

3. Buy a water efficient WC

Low-flush WCs do not hold as much water as older models.  Dual flush WCs are common place on mainland Europe. Models are dual buttons or single levels – using the light flush can cut the water use by up to 50%.

4. Use collected rain water fed to the WC

5. Customise your sinks to feed waste water to the WC

6. Dry WC using compost

Seek professional advice for 4, 5 and 6. 

Materials

Typically WCs are made from ceramic and porcelain, both durable and hygienic materials.  These materials use lots of energy during manufacture and as they are heavy, the energy used for shipping is also high. Porcelain can be recycled into lesser worth materials e.g. road base.  Most WC seats are made from plastic which is made by chemical processing and are harder to recycle, although lightweight and hygienic.  Timber WC seats are a popular choice, however over time the finish becomes worn, causing cracks, making them more difficult to clean and less hygienic.

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