# What was wrong with the overhead toilet tank system?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-the-overhead-toilet-tank-system/506270>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 13, 2009, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-the-overhead-toilet-tank-system/506270 "2009-08-13T12:08:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-the-overhead-toilet-tank-system/506270/21 "2009-08-16T06:05:10Z")

</div>

> [@Napier](#):
>
> Gee, I’ve always wanted one like those, believing it would be more effective at cleaning the bowl.

Another disadvantage is that they use a whole lot of water. Much more wasteful than current toilets, or even the older models.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-the-overhead-toilet-tank-system/506270/22 "2009-08-16T06:20:30Z")

</div>

On a semi related tangent. Where does the water come from to flush one of those public toilets that doesn’t have a tank? Is it a large volume of water in a pipe in the wall?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CutterJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@CutterJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CutterJohn)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-the-overhead-toilet-tank-system/506270/23 "2009-08-16T20:08:38Z")

</div>

> [@USCDiver](#):
>
> On a semi related tangent. Where does the water come from to flush one of those public toilets that doesn’t have a tank? Is it a large volume of water in a pipe in the wall?

They just tap directly off the water lines and use the water pressure. If there happens to be no water pressure, there will be no flushing at all.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-the-overhead-toilet-tank-system/506270/24 "2009-08-16T20:15:15Z")

</div>

> [@CutterJohn](#):
>
> They just tap directly off the water lines and use the water pressure. If there happens to be no water pressure, there will be no flushing at all.

The pipes are a lot bigger in diameter than your typical household pipes of 1/2 or 3/4 inches. Allows a bigger ‘whoosh’ when it is tapped,

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-the-overhead-toilet-tank-system/506270.md?page=1)