A riddle for you: The average person uses it about 2,500 times a year.
Over a lifetime, you end up spending 3 months there.
It gets the highest number of simultaneous visitors during Super Bowl halftime.
Nope, it’s not the ATM, but another place where you can make a deposit.
Yep, today we’re talkin’ toilet, and to find out how it works, I’m inviting you
on an exclusive trip inside the tank!
Yeah really.
Hold your nose.
That’s it.
Believe it or not, the key moving power behind today’s toilets is … gravity.
But for gravity to pull our waste away, it needs some help.
That’s where the commode’s specific design and engineering come into play.
What happens when you flush will often depend on where you live in this world, but here
are the basics…
First, the main parts.
There’s that tank behind you where you might have some decorative potpourri sitting on
top.
If you take the lid off, you’ll see a bunch of water sitting inside.
It’s not alone, though.
There are two tall vertical structures.
One’s the fill valve, and the other one in the middle is the flush valve.
The fill valve works a lot like a doorman at the club.
It decides when there’s enough water and stops more of it from getting in.
When the tank empties, it lets new water in.
There’s also a “float ball” attached to the fill valve.
When the water level rises (usually AFTER you flush), this ball will go up with it.
Once the water level gets to where it needs to be, a float rod attached to the ball pushes
the fill valve so that extra water can’t get in.
Thanks to that, the tank doesn’t get too full and send water overflooding all over
your bathroom!
Well that’s a good thing.
But, of course, things aren’t always this calm.
I can hear steps – someone’s coming in!
Finally, the action is about to start!
Well, let’s fast forward to when the business is done.
Good idea…
Now, a typical American toilet has a handle on the side of the tank that you push down
to flush.
In Europe, some older places still have pull chains above the commode.
No matter where you are, the newest models have a dual-flush system to save water.
Your handle or chain gets replaced with a button on top of the tank.
If you look closer, you’ll see that it’s actually two buttons – one releases half
the water in the tank and the other – all of it.
Which button you push depends on how much water you’ll need to uh…wash everything
away.
When you press the handle or push the button to flush the toilet, it pulls on a chain that
lifts this thing on the very bottom of the tank called the flapper.
No not the dancer from the 1920’s – this one is piece of rubber.
When that little cap is down, it creates a seal and keeps the water from leaving the
tank.
When it’s lifted, well, the water moves through a short pipe where it makes its way
to the bowl.
Uh-oh, fork in the road!
Water doesn't just come out in one large stream but moves through scattered holes in the rim.
This way, it can not only wash away whatever is inside the bowl but also clean the sides!
Hey, less scrubbing for you!
Most of the water successfully leaves the system through the main drain, but some of
it stays in the bowl.
This is good for hygiene – the water stops germs and bad smells that would otherwise
spread from the sewer.
By the way, this is the modern toilet’s contribution to public health.
They help prevent contagious diseases from spreading!
The water also needs to sit there for the whole thing to work, which brings me to…
That big curved pipe under the toilet toward the wall – it’s called the S-bend, and
that’s where all the magic happens!
Toilet magic.
Yeah.
It’s so magical, in fact, that you don’t even really need the tank on the back to flush
your toilet.
You could just pour a bucket of water directly into the bowl, and it’ll flush everything
down the main drain!
It happens because of something called the Siphon Effect.
Thanks to that special curvature in the S-pipe, it creates something called a trap.
When you fill the bowl with each flush, you overflow and break that trap, causing the
main drain (well, gravity) to literally pull the water down.
That’s why you see the water in the bowl rise a bit before it all rushes out.
Let me put it this way: have you ever emptied a large fish tank by pulling all the water
out through a tube?
One end of the tube goes in the aquarium full of water, the other hangs out (AND down!
You need that bend!), and you help get the siphon process going by drawing a bit out
with your lips.
Though, not recommended – fish tanks are filthy!
Wouldn’t wanna accidentally swallow that stuff.
Anyway, your toilet flush works the same way.
Once it’s pulled all the water it can, it starts taking in air, hence that iconic gurgling
sound you hear with each flush.
The air stops the Siphon Effect, and congrats – you flushed the toilet.
That’s if you live in North America, where siphon toilets are the thing.
Over in Europe, they use the washdown system.
Instead of pulling the water out, it basically gets pushed down through the exit.
It’s why you won’t see a whole bowl of water in Europe, and American toilets are
almost full of it!
Wherever you are, the water will successfully leave the system anyway.
So, where does it go from there?
Glad you asked…
The bathroom is just one part of the journey.
That toilet water joins the soapy water from your daily showers, dishwashing, and laundry
days.
From now on, it’s called sewage.
Sewage from your house moves down through pipes and meets more sewage from your neighbors,
nearby businesses, and anybody along the way.
To give you an idea of how massive those pipes are – sometimes they’re the size of a
bus!
The bigger the city, the more sewage there is, obviously.
Speaking of which, do you live in a large city or a small town?
Let me know in the comments below!
All those gigantic rivers of waste flow into treatment plants.
There, they remove any harmful substances from the water – you can imagine how many
germs are in there!
And not only germs but also some surprising finds, from toys to jewelry, watches, and
dentures!
Once, they even found half a mini car in the London sewers!
The cleaning process takes a long time with all the proper chemical processing.
And only after it's definitely clean and safe, the water is set free into a nearby river
or the ocean.
As for the treated sewage, it can be turned into energy or new water.
In Singapore, for example, they transform it into drinking water that exceeds international
quality standards!
But it’s not like you need water to flush a commode!
There are composting toilets that turn waste into organic compost.
You’ve also got incinerating toilets that burn it!
But the most famous waterless lavatory has to be the airplane toilet.
They use a disinfecting liquid and powerful vacuum suction thanks to the air pressure
difference inside and outside the cabin.
When you've done your business and flush, the waste is pulled out at rocket speeds.
Then it goes to the back of the plane and rests safely in sealed tanks awaiting landing.
So, no, it doesn’t just get dropped out of the plane and onto the heads of unfortunate
people on the ground that get an unexpected shower!
Finally, the question from London: is it true that from the master bathroom in Buckingham
Palace, the Queen can do a Royal Flush?
And is there any toilet joke older than that?
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