A rooter (no brand names, right?) guy told me that low flush toilets can be a problem in that they don’t move solids far enough down the sewer line.
Made sense to me, so now I double flush when I doo #2.
Any expert willing to verify what I was told?
Peace,
mangeorge
Depends on the design and age of the building. But low flush toilets and problem go in the same sentence.
One way around the low flow rate rather than double flushes all the time is once a week dump a full bucket of water down the toilet.
I’m not a plumber but I’ve had had my share of plumbing problems. I don’t see why it would matter how far solids get moved by the toilet as long as they go down and don’t clog. Once stuff makes it to the main sewer line going out to the street, it doesn’t matter.
I used to have a problem with toilet clogs though. That is a real pain in the ass. So when I replaced the toilet, I got one of the power flush models that uses air pressure to force water through the toilet. Not sure exactly how it works and it makes more noise that regular model, but damn, it can move some heavy shit. If you need to get a new low flush toilet, that’s the only kind I would consider. It’s more expensive but well worth it.
The problem you can have with a low flush toilet is once the solids are out of the toilet and in the house main there may not be enough water to carry the water away from the toilet to the street main.
The problem is, I think, that the water bypasses the load and deposits it only partway to the main. Because this can slow down the water, subsequent flushes drop the poop/paper closer and closer to the house.
I’m not sure why I’m so curious about this. My old plumbing seems fine. Never had a clog.
Simulpost, almost!
Pretty simple. More water and the solids move faster down the pipes. If they don’t get all the way out into a septic system or the sewers, they sit and begin to dry and stick. Recently had to snake out my system because of that. The extra flush is a good idea.
Where are the two level toilets they promised?
You mean one for pee and one for poo? They’re in my local hardware stores. 
We put a low-flow toilet in our last house, and I don’t think I’ll do that again. Once you start flushing and flushing and flushing to get things to go down, you’re kind of losing the advantage. Plus, the low water level makes for a constantly nasty bowl.
there are pressurized toilets for low water use. i have no first hand experience.
my guess that low flow toilets would work better in new construction (where you would have pipes still in the right slope) and smooth plastic. cast iron pipes can rust rough and not drain as rapidly and with force.
take a dump before you take a shower, that shower water draining even though a lower flow is a high volume and would help wash out the pipes.
Once the matter in the bowl of the toilet clears the trap of the toilet, it gets a short relatively horizontal ride to the soil stack, where it drops vertically to the main waste pipe leading to the sewer/septic tank. Except for exceptionally large homes, all the water in the house will normally enter the main waste pipe at more or less the same place, so it’s not just your toilet flush that carries the waste out to the sewer, it’s your dishwasher, your washing machine, everything that discharges waste water into your plumbing.
Is the worry that there won’t be enough water in a low-flow toilet to get it the like 18 inches to the soil stack?
That’s fine, but then it has to make that 90. I guess the velocity it picks up on the way down helps, but then it still has that long trip to the main.
Anyone know if you can retrofit a power flush system in an ordinary toilet. My problem is that my gauge seems to be larger than the toilets and I frequently have to flush two or three times and plunge too.
All you have to do to convert your low flush toilet is to replace the stopper in the tank. The stoppers in low flush toilets have a hole in the end that allows air to escape and cause the stopper to fall sooner. Replace that and your problem is solved.
What???
Replace the stopper in your tank and it will stay open longer allowing more water to flush the bowl.
My LFT fills right up to the top of the overflow tube thingy.
I think somebody’s been pulling your leg. 
Wait a minit, I think I know what you’re saying. I’ll go look.
Now I see what Dano is saying. The tank doesn’t empty completely before the stopper drops. Cool! 
If I hold the handle down it does empty. I learn something every day.
Thanks, Dano.
Depends on the type of low flush toilet you have.
Mine has the two level type. The tank is smaller than older toilets. On a solids flush the complete tank emties into the bowl. And I can not raise the water level, The tank fills to just under the overflow.
If too much paper is used in the bowl the toilet sometimes stops up. That is my only problem in my house. All the horizontal from the toilet to the main are under 12 inches, so shower and other water helps carry the solids to the street.
The hotel I worked in put in really cheap low flush toilets. the outlet from the toilet was only about 1.5 inches in diameter. Every shift we would get from 10 to 30 plugged toilets. Raaising the level if it could be done would not have worked.
You may have one of the two level low flush toilets. If only pee in toilet push handle down and let go the pee should clear. If solids push and hold handle down, should (?) clear all solids. If you want to eliminate the two level shorten the chain to the handle. My mother in law stays with us often and I never could get her to understand this. I shortened the chain in the bathroom to eliminate many stopped toilets when she visits.