A Look At Toilets And How They Flush
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Though toilets are not a favorite topic of conversation and are often seen as dirty or filled with germs, truth be told they are very complex systems. They handle human waste so that every day people do not have to think about the matter.
Every toilet has three main systems that combined make up the toilet and cause it to flush. These systems are the refill mechanism, the flush mechanism and the bowl siphon.
The bowl siphon is attached to the toilet bowl and drains away the extra water in the bowl automatically. When enough water is present in the bowl siphon to fill it up, the siphon will take the water in the toilet bowl into the sewer pipe. When the bowl is empty, the siphon tube gets air inside and will cease siphoning the water out of the bowl.
The secondary component necessary to toilet flushing is the flush mechanism. The flush mechanism puts all the water from the toilet tank into the toilet bowl, which then makes the bowl siphon begin working.
If you have ever lifted the lid of the toilet tank, there is a flush valve attached to a chain. When you flush the toilet, the chain is pulled, raising the flush valve and exposing a drain hole. About two gallons of water then enters the toilet bowl through this drain hole.
It takes about three seconds upon pulling the flush mechanism for all the water from the toilet tank to enter the toilet bowl. Once it does, the bowl siphon is activated and sucks out the water in the bowl, alongside the waste with it.
The third main part of the toilet is the refill mechanism. Once the process above is complete with the toilet siphon and the flush mechanism, the refill mechanism then puts water back into the bowl so the toilet is ready for the next usage.
When the tank water level falls, there is a valve in the refill mechanism that turns on and starts refilling the tank through a refill tube. A portion of the refilling water goes into the toilet bowl as well. The ball inside the toilet tank is called the ball float, and this helps determine how much water is needed. When the sufficient level is reached, the valve turns off.
In conclusion, first the flush valve is pushed, thereby pulling the chain in the flush mechanism. Two gallons of water then quickly flow into the bowl from the tank, taking about three seconds. This two gallons of water then causes the bowl siphon to suck both the water and waste with it down the drain.
Since the water in the tank is used in this process, the refill valve is automatically reset and adds water back into the tank and the bowl. When there is sufficient water in both, the refill valve turns off.
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