# Toilets **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 21, 2000, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets/6436 "2000-01-21T15:24:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AvenueB-dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@AvenueB-dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AvenueB-dude)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2000, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets/6436/1 "2000-01-21T15:24:00Z")
I have a very simple question: why can’t you buy a real toilet? I have to replace a toilet where I am living (long story) and the only ones I can buy are these little tanks. The guy at the store says it is a law that only small capacity toilets can be sold. It is only a few hours drive to Canada where they still have real toilets so I may go there. BUT, the question is why did they even make that law? Is there going to be a nationwide water shortage that only the government knows about? Is porcelin a natural resource? What is the Straight Dope? Tanks! (ha ha) ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2000, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets/6436/2 "2000-01-21T15:33:00Z")
Avenue, they’ve slipped this one in on us. Basically, the water-conserving tanks have been adapted into National Building Code. Code is changed and agreed upon by a panel of experts, etc. etc. In such situations, often the laws of the land default to whatever the Code says should be done. Some parts of Code are manditory while others are guidelines. Yes, we’ve all been snookered by this because the conservation toilets requires multiple flushings “to pump the stuff right out of your home”. (Hist of the World Pt. I) Thus, we’re saving nothing or little. Also, you should be aware that if you install a non-compliant toilet, and you go to sell, you might be required to replace the toiler with a Code-compliant crapper. Ain’t life grand? Beware the "Sheep"busters! 😉 * * * Invested in toilet paper, but got wiped out before I could turn around! ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2000, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets/6436/3 "2000-01-21T16:12:00Z")
Just get a legal one, but hold the handle until it completely flushes when you think you need a bigger flush :eek:. The tanks usually hold more than the 1.6 GPF maximum legal flush, but the stopper comes down before it all goes out. * * * _It is too clear, and so it is hard to see._ ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2000, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets/6436/4 "2000-01-21T16:48:00Z")
Get a Koehler, or find a toilet with the biggest possible hole down at the bottom. Some have very small ones, you know what that means. ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2000, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets/6436/5 "2000-01-21T17:59:00Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/003071.html](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/003071.html) * * * We gladly devour those who would subdue us. ---
**Author:** ![kylen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@kylen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kylen)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets/6436/6 "2000-01-22T06:05:00Z")
Americans: flush… Canadians: Fluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuushhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… Ahhh… It seems that ours are bigger. Hee, hee. Kylen ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets/6436/7 "2000-01-22T06:09:00Z")
It seems foreign toilets just can’t live up to our “American Standards” - sorry, I couldn’t resist! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets/6436/8 "2000-01-22T06:25:00Z")
> [@](#): > > “to pump the _stuff_ right out of your home”. (Hist of the World Pt. I) You must have watched it on Comedy Central 😃 Some low flush toilets work well but my folks have a couple of awful ones in their house. It’s so bad we just keep a bucket of water in the bathroom that doubles as pet water and flush assistance. We tried replacing them with large, hi seat models so my dad (who is wheelchair bound) could use them only to discover that the larger bowl took too much space in the small bathrooms and he couldn’t get his chair around them. The weak-flush models and buckets went back in. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets/6436/9 "2000-01-22T06:28:00Z")
And it’s a long drive to Canada for real toilets. Not sure if we could get them in Mexico but we’d never get them past the _federales_. Those guys don’t even have to show us any stinking badges, or at least that’s what a FOAF says. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2000, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets/6436/10 "2000-01-21T19:10:00Z")
Geez! You mean, when I gots to go, I gotta go all the way to Canada? Just why we Americans can’t even make a proper “hopper” beats the crap out of me! 🙂 Are we there yet? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets/6436/11 "2000-01-22T00:40:00Z")
You can get a real toilet from construction comp’s that take them out of old places. ---
**Author:** ![myeck\_waters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@myeck\_waters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myeck_waters)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets/6436/12 "2000-01-22T02:27:00Z")
You don’t need to resort to potty smuggling to get a good flush. What you need is a “PA” or Pressure Assisted toilet. Home Depot sells 'em and ours works great. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toilets/6436/13 "2000-01-22T16:00:00Z")
myeck waters, tellme more.