# Toilet with grinder? (big poop problem) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2013, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457 "2013-12-16T12:52:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Emerald\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Emerald\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emerald_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/21 "2013-12-16T21:29:19Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Between regular toilets (which come with a bewildering array of “super-flush” designations, which are nearly all pure marketing BS) and the commercial high-pressure flushers that sound like a backfiring jet engine, there are “vacuum assist” toilets that are not terribly expensive, noisy or requiring of special plumbing. I can vouch for their ability to carry away at least medium-sized elephant poop. I was unable to find any reasonably priced vacuum assist toilets when I was facing this same problem. Consumer reports seems to agree and doesn’t even test them ([Best Toilet Buying Guide - Consumer Reports](http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/toilets/buying-guide.htm)). Marketing BS or not, I had great success with an American Standard Champion 4, which is an inexpensive regular gravity-fed model. I went from having to unclog the old one once a month, to being clog free for several years now. It has seriously never clogged. The 2 3/8" glazed trapway doesn’t sound like a big improvement diameter-wise but it was enough to make a difference in my case. It’s one of the top performers in the Consumer Reports testing, but you’ll need to subscribe to see more details. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/22 "2013-12-16T22:14:38Z")
> [@Emerald\_Hawk](#): > > I was unable to find any reasonably priced vacuum assist toilets when I was facing this same problem. Consumer reports seems to agree and doesn’t even test them ([Best Toilet Buying Guide - Consumer Reports](http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/toilets/buying-guide.htm)). They did a few years ago when I used their recommendation, in part, to buy a pair. Had excellent results with them in an **ahem** difficult household. As for marketing BS, walk down the line of thrones at HD or Lowe’s and find one that DOESN’T claim super-flushing capabilities, even the $100 rental-class ones. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/23 "2013-12-16T22:15:41Z")
> [@Gus\_Gusterson](#): > > If the problem is that the stool is too large to fit into the toilet’s trapway, there are toilets with larger diameter trapways. Caroma toilets have 4" trapways. If that’s not big enough (I’ll admit that I’m not familiar with elephant poop), perhaps an incinerating toilet would work. > [@jk1985](#): > > Lol, I have the same problem. For some reason, I always clog the toilet. I think you should just buy a better toilet… one of those with a high-powered flusher. My father has this problem, due to some medical issues he has. First, my SO and I put in a US made toilet, one advertised to let you flush buckets of golf balls, followed by a bowling ball. It didn’t do the trick. The good news, we now own a truly impressive toilet snake. Then we got one of the Caroma toilets. Like **Gus Gusterson** says, it’s got a 4" trapway instead of a 2". After 6 months of use, there were no clogging problems. It is a bit pricey, and Caroma was rather hard to work with (they are in Australia and didn’t seem to like answering correspondences from the store we were using) but all of that has been well worth it, to know that my mother is no longer fishing things out of the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/24 "2013-12-16T23:23:53Z")
Maybe a machete on a cord hung near the toilet paper would be a low-tech and cheap solution? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/25 "2013-12-17T00:14:42Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Maybe a machete on a cord hung near the toilet paper would be a low-tech and cheap solution? Um. How to put this… When I was maybe ten, I had a huge plastic bowie knife as part of a Halloween costume. In my teens, I could clog a main sewer line. The not-quite-a-toy knife lived where it could do… doo-doo machete duty. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/26 "2013-12-17T00:28:39Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Um. How to put this… When I was maybe ten, I had a huge plastic bowie knife as part of a Halloween costume. In my teens, I could clog a main sewer line. The not-quite-a-toy knife lived where it could do… doo-doo machete duty. Sounds to me like you’re a professional barbarian. No mere amateur would have proposed such a solution. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/27 "2013-12-17T00:36:18Z")
> [@demian\_travis](#): > > Today I learned that there are incinerator toilets. Today I also learned that you can burn poop. > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > See [Incinolet.](http://incinolet.com/) I prefer [The Destroilet](http://theimmaculateconsumption.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/introducing-the-destroilet/) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/28 "2013-12-17T01:22:41Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Um. How to put this… When I was maybe ten, I had a huge plastic bowie knife as part of a Halloween costume. In my teens, I could clog a main sewer line. The not-quite-a-toy knife lived where it could do… doo-doo machete duty. Are you my cousin? This story sounds eerily familiar. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/29 "2013-12-17T01:29:41Z")
[Kenny]"There’s another classic example of someone having a two inch arsehole and us having installed only one inch piping.[/Kenny] ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/30 "2013-12-17T01:55:45Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > Sounds to me like you’re a professional barbarian. No mere amateur would have proposed such a solution. Actually, it was Mama Barbarian’s solution. I was faintly grossed out by having the poop sword live in the bucket with the toilet brush… > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Are you my cousin? This story sounds eerily familiar. 🙂 I don’t know that anyone outside the household knew about it, but it’s possible. Sacramento, early 1970s? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/31 "2013-12-17T01:56:36Z")
> [@SpeedwayRyan](#): > > Pics? Need answer fast? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/32 "2013-12-17T05:04:04Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Did you know that elephants eat their own poop? . . . which, in turn, becomes more poop. So how far back can existing elephant poop molecules be traced? ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/33 "2013-12-17T05:37:00Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > What you are looking for is a macerating toilet. Like this: > > [http://www.libertypumps.com/Products/Category/?c=21](http://www.libertypumps.com/Products/Category/?c=21) So the shit really does hit the fan. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/34 "2013-12-17T06:17:37Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I don’t know that anyone outside the household knew about it, but it’s possible. Sacramento, early 1970s? Nope (Wisconsin, a few years later). Still, pretty amusing coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![whc.03grady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@whc.03grady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whc.03grady)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/35 "2013-12-17T06:23:12Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > What you are looking for is a macerating toilet. Like this: > > [http://www.libertypumps.com/Products/Category/?c=21](http://www.libertypumps.com/Products/Category/?c=21) Arrr, 'tis a fine slurry. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/36 "2013-12-17T12:59:39Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > They did a few years ago when I used their recommendation, in part, to buy a pair. Had excellent results with them in an **ahem** difficult household. Do you remember what brand and model you bought? > [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > Then we got one of the Caroma toilets. Like **Gus Gusterson** says, it’s got a 4" trapway instead of a 2". After 6 months of use, there were no clogging problems. It is a bit pricey, and Caroma was rather hard to work with (they are in Australia… I see they have a USA web site… ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/37 "2013-12-17T13:35:26Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > My father has this problem, due to some medical issues he has. First, my SO and I put in a US made toilet, one advertised to let you flush buckets of golf balls, followed by a bowling ball. It didn’t do the trick. The good news, we now own a truly impressive toilet snake. > > Then we got one of the Caroma toilets. Like **Gus Gusterson** says, it’s got a 4" trapway instead of a 2". After 6 months of use, there were no clogging problems. It is a bit pricey, and Caroma was rather hard to work with (they are in Australia and didn’t seem to like answering correspondences from the store we were using) but all of that has been well worth it, to know that my mother is no longer fishing things out of the toilet. Excellent post/username combo. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/38 "2013-12-17T21:02:05Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > As for marketing BS, walk down the line of thrones at HD or Lowe’s and find one that DOESN’T claim super-flushing capabilities, even the $100 rental-class ones. Preach it. We bought a Jameco toilet from HD and had to unclog the thing on a weekly basis. Later we found an industry review of toilets and discovered that we’d purchased the single worst-performing toilet they tested. We replaced it with a Kohler Wellworth and have had only one clog in a couple of years. Might give one of those a try, since it’s cheaper and easier to find and install than some of the other options suggested (although I wouldn’t mind testing one of those flush-it-with fire models for the novelty). ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/39 "2013-12-17T22:48:37Z")
Honestly, I don’t know why you put up with crappy solutions to pooh removal in the US. I often see people write about clogging problems and invariably they are in the US. I have never had a toilet clog on me. Use a decent size drain and all your problems flush away completely clogless. I have a Caroma bowl with dual flush and a small deposit can be flushed with the half flush option with no worries about clogging. Then again, if you must use low water usage models it may not meet requirements. I think the half flush is 6 litres and the whole one is 11 litres. (Obviously not exactly half). So that’s 6/3.78 = 1.6 gals or 11/3.78 = 2.9 US gallons. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457/40 "2013-12-17T22:51:38Z")
When I lived in the land of unreliable plumbing, we just kept a piece of straight wire (I think I used an unbent coat hanger) near the plunger for those situations. Kind of gross, but it beats a pricey remodel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilet-with-grinder-big-poop-problem/676457.md?page=3)