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Which is to say, "Victory is ours". I fixed my clogged toilet, all by myself! I am the genius!
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Uh... You haven't been fixing clogged toilets since age 12 or so? That was the rule in our house.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Well, you see, in civilised countries, toilets very rarely clog. In fact, I don't recall it happening at any time in my parents' house. But one must expect these inconveniences in moving to the colonies, of course.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Truly, I have no idea whereof you speak. I got a metal coathanger, unbent it so it was a more-or-less straight wire, and poked into the flush path. After removing the, um, stuff, that was floating about in the bowl.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Eat more prunes and bran cereal and your gloop won't be too hard to go down the plumbing pipes.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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I have yet to find an American cereal that's actually edible. They tend to either be sickly-sweet, or go soggy very quickly. Just one more of those little inconveniences in moving to the colonies. I won't even talk about what passes for sweets hereabouts.
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I love grapenuts. they're good as they are, or......for some variety, you can put syrup or honey on 'em. yummy
Posts: 283 | Registered: Jan 2003
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For the first time, I have a job where cleaning (and/or plunging) toilets is not part of the job description. I've actually earned compliments for my ability to plunge some of the vilest toiletbowls known to man (given the source, the compliment doesn't mean much, but still).
I can fix simple things, like a simple snake, or a proken handle/chain, but nothing involving wrenches.
Posts: 2849 | Registered: Feb 2002
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But is this the best way to approach plugged toilets in the colonies? Do we keep finding better and better ways to unplug toilets, or teach people to eat more fiber so toilets don't ever get plugged in the first place?
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New toilets are horrible. The ones that monitor the amount of water that is used on each flush to be more environmentally conscious clog constantly. I know a guy who can get you some canadian black market toilets with real power, you'll never use a coat hanger on your toilet again, I swear.
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Actually, AR, it's all about the size of the flange (the base of the toilet where all the poopies go). A good low-flow toilet will flush anything. It's just a matter of getting a decent base with a good sized flange.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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I hear you kq I too have been unclogging toilets since I was but a wee lass. King of Men are you serious when you imply that toilets in, Britain I assume, don't clog? What strange magic is this?
Also you used a coat hanger?!? Do they have plungers their?
Posts: 832 | Registered: Jan 2005
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This is so weird- I've never encountered a drastically malfunctioning toilet before, but this morning my toilet overflowed for the first time EVER.
Posts: 377 | Registered: May 1999
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I am from Norway, but since my mother is Scottish I feel entitled to refer to the US as 'the colonies'. And I do not think the toilets in my parents' house ever clogged, in the twenty or so years I lived there. Now, I grant you one toilet is not a statistically significant sample, but there were two. Based on such magnificent statistics, I am prepared to say Norwegian toilets do not clog.
I used a coat hanger for the good and simple reason that I do not have a plunger, being a bit unprepared for roughing it.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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And I haven't seen any of them since coming here, so even by that low standard, the US is an uncivilised sort of place.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Heh, anyone here have a pressure assisted flush toilet? They work almost as well as a flush-valve toilet (the ones you typically see in public places, without the tank).
I think you could drop an entire roll of toilet paper in there and it'll be disposed of.
Posts: 1368 | Registered: Sep 2002
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What KoM probably doesn't know is the history of low flush toilets in the U.S. If he had grown up here he might not have seen a toilet clog, since 30 years ago most toilets used about 9 gallons per flush, but given today's 1.6 gpf requirement, a lot of them do, especially those made 10 years ago or so.
Given the fact that water is getting to be a strategic commodity, I woudn't doubt if Modern toilets in Norway might be a little finicky too. Even Canadian toilets at 3.5 gpf are not as reliable as the old standards.
But like it or not it really is important, expecially given how fast we're drawing down our aquifers.
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
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The higher end Totos use pressure assist, and the flush valve is 3" instead of 2." But the pressure assist makes it quite loud.
The real problem sith some of these is that with limited water in the bowl there isn't enough to cover the contents. So you get an "outhouse smell."
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
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While I can't be certain of the age of my toilet, I live in an apartment block that doesn't look particularly new. From a quick eyeball estimate of the capacity of the flush tank, I guess it uses about 12 liters, ie 3 gallons, per flush. My parents' toilets were rather old, though, the newest being in the extension we added in 1985; since we live in Bergen, rainiest city in northern Europe, I don't think low-flush was a requirement. In fact I don't think it is even now. With rain two days out of three, and lots of nice mountains to catch it for reservoirs, fresh water is a commodity Norway, or at any rate Bergen, won't run out of soon.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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I live within the Great Lakes basin (the narrow strip of realestate that borders the Great Lakes and supplies them with run-off). We don't have water problems here. Well, not the kind you're thinking of , anyways. We have problems with our ancient, combined waste and storm water systems in the older parts of town overflowing; sending tons of human waste into our precious Lake Michigan. Chicago hates us.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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Has anyone ever been in a target and had to do the old number two. The super pressure flush mixed with the sensor flush creates a fun experiance. Everytime you reach forward to wipe you get to go on a sunami, earthquake adventure.
Posts: 832 | Registered: Jan 2005
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I was in the library today and it had the sensor flush on the toilet. I guess I moved too far or something because, boy, was I surprised when that toilet flushed on me! And it happened twice. Needless to say, I was VERY CAREFUL during the clean-up part of my bathroom adventure...
Posts: 206 | Registered: Jun 2005
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