Maybe this should be part of the courtesy flush thread

[TitoMorelli]

Low-flow toilets cause a stink in SF

San Francisco's big push for low-flow toilets has turned into a multimillion-dollar plumbing stink.

Skimping on toilet water has resulted in more sludge backing up inside the sewer pipes, said Tyrone Jue, spokesman for the city Public Utilities Commission. That has created a rotten-egg stench near AT&T Park and elsewhere, especially during the dry summer months.

The city has already spent $100 million over the past five years to upgrade its sewer system and sewage plants, in part to combat the odor problem.

Now officials are stocking up on a $14 million, three-year supply of highly concentrated sodium hypochlorite - better known as bleach - to act as an odor eater and to disinfect the city's treated water before it's dumped into the bay. It will also be used to sanitize drinking water.

That translates into 8.5 million pounds of bleach either being poured down city drains or into the drinking water supply every year.

Not everybody thinks it's a good idea.

A Don't Bleach Our Bay alert has just gone out from eco-blogger Adam Lowry who argues the city would be much better off using a disinfectant like hydrogen peroxide - or better yet, a solution that would naturally break down the bacteria.

As for whether the supposedly environmentally friendly, low-flow toilets are worth the trouble? Well, according to Jue, they have helped trim San Francisco's annual water consumption by about 20 million gallons.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz1FMSZ3a83

[OULenexaman]

I didn't know STEP was in the bay area...

[OUmillenium]

We have low water toilets and they are a headache. I think I will replace them w some Al Bundy/Tim Allen industrial strength jobs.

Our street's system backed up and flooded our neighbors house and almost our house,drain kept up, last year. City said low water toilets dont push blockages through like they should.

[texaspokieokie]

We have low water toilets and they are a headache. I think I will replace them w some Al Bundy/Tim Allen industrial strength jobs.

Our street's system backed up and flooded our neighbors house and almost our house,drain kept up, last year. City said low water toilets dont push blockages through like they should.

i was dead set against the "low-flow", but after 4 yrs in our house, they seam
to work fine.

[cantwait48]

some of it depends on what size logs you produce at your home

[yermom]

i was dead set against the "low-flow", but after 4 yrs in our house, they seam
to work fine.

yeah, but when everyone has one, apparently it's not cool

besides, i like a man's flush

[texaspokieokie]

yeah, but when everyone has one, apparently it's not cool

besides, i like a man's flush

there's about 300 houses in our neighborhood, the oldest of which is about 5 years. seems to be OK.

[Fugue]

besides, i like a man's flush

me too
I've got the old 5 gallon terlets with the tornado suction.
It just laughs at me when I try and clog it.

[yermom]

http://www.tvacres.com/props_toilets_ferguson.htm

[jumperstop]

I have a low flow, and it gets clogged way too much. When I stop renting I'll invest in a real one.

[Fugue]

to AL

[Whet]

Take a trip to Canada and purchase a good turlet with a man-sized flush. Or, get a power-assist turlet.

Also, the environmental conscious SF will be using chlorine to disinfect..... this is in direct conflict with the anti-chlorine environmental crowd, which has placed chlorine on its dangerous and evil list.

[jumperstop]

Take a trip to Canada and purchase a good turlet with a man-sized flush. Or, get a power-assist turlet.

Also, the environmental conscious SF will be using chlorine to disinfect..... this is in direct conflict with the anti-chlorine environmental crowd, which has placed chlorine on its dangerous and evil list.

All the fart sniffers were so environmentally conscious that they made stuff worse for the environment. How ironic....

[virginiasooner]

Take a trip to Canada and purchase a good turlet with a man-sized flush. Or, get a power-assist turlet.

Also, the environmental conscious SF will be using chlorine to disinfect..... this is in direct conflict with the anti-chlorine environmental crowd, which has placed chlorine on its dangerous and evil list.

San Francisco is remembering the drought from the late 1970s -- no glass of water at restaurants, flushing toilets at home only a couple of times a day, recycling rinse water in the washing machine for other household uses like watering the garden, etc. If you didn't see the empty reservoirs up in the Sierras, you can't understand their paranoia about wasting water.

And if you're concerned about your "output" causing a clog, get a dual flush toilet -- half gallon for liquids, 1 gallon for solids.

[Jacie]

Take a trip to Canada and purchase a good turlet with a man-sized flush. Or, get a power-assist turlet.

It is actually considered smuggling to bring one across the border though I have never heard of anyone being prosecuted for doing so . . .

[Bourbon St Sooner]

If it's yellow let it mellow. If it's brown flush it down.

[Mongo]

I think it would be tough to keister a toilet across the boarder

[Fraggle145]

Low-flow toilets cause a stink in SF

San Francisco's big push for low-flow toilets has turned into a multimillion-dollar plumbing stink.

Skimping on toilet water has resulted in more sludge backing up inside the sewer pipes, said Tyrone Jue, spokesman for the city Public Utilities Commission. That has created a rotten-egg stench near AT&T Park and elsewhere, especially during the dry summer months.

The city has already spent $100 million over the past five years to upgrade its sewer system and sewage plants, in part to combat the odor problem.

Now officials are stocking up on a $14 million, three-year supply of highly concentrated sodium hypochlorite - better known as bleach - to act as an odor eater and to disinfect the city's treated water before it's dumped into the bay. It will also be used to sanitize drinking water.

That translates into 8.5 million pounds of bleach either being poured down city drains or into the drinking water supply every year.

Not everybody thinks it's a good idea.

A Don't Bleach Our Bay alert has just gone out from eco-blogger Adam Lowry who argues the city would be much better off using a disinfectant like hydrogen peroxide - or better yet, a solution that would naturally break down the bacteria.

As for whether the supposedly environmentally friendly, low-flow toilets are worth the trouble? Well, according to Jue, they have helped trim San Francisco's annual water consumption by about 20 million gallons.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz1FMSZ3a83

Or if they would just wait and let the bacterial community go through its succession it probably wouldnt stink anymore.

Or they could just add oxygen. Most of the stink is caused by anarobic conditions that allow the release Sulfur.

[Fraggle145]

All the fart sniffers were so environmentally conscious that they made stuff worse for the environment. How ironic....

Its still better for the environment, it just happens to smell bad.

[Fraggle145]

People need jobs, so have them replace the pipes with better pipes designed for use with low flow toilets.