Toilets

Toilets are perhaps one of the most important innovations in convenience in modern times. Just about every home has at least one; some people have quite a few! It's difficult to imagine what life would be like without that little porcelain bowl (for information on the different types of toilets, please see bathrooms). In this section, we will discuss how a toilet works and why it sometimes doesn't work.

The toilet looks fairly simple on the outside, but the mechanics on the inside are simply amazing. First, let's take a look at the bowl itself. The bowl leads to a tube called the siphon tube that curves up and then down. The water level in the bowl consistently remains the same because any extra water spills over the edge of the siphon tube and heads down into the sewer pipe. When a large amount of water is dumped into the bowl simultaneously, the tube creates a siphoning action and everything in the bowl is sucked down into it.

That's where the tank comes in. It takes about 30 seconds to fill the tank with several gallons of water. When the lever is pulled, a flap lifts off the hole in the bottom of the tank and all of that water empties into the tank in about 3 seconds. This gets the siphon going and clears the bowl. Inside the tank is a floater that is connected to the fill valve. When the floater sinks, the fill valve turns on and begins to fill the tank until the floater rises again, at which point it shuts off.

Now, why does the toilet sometimes stop working right? Occasionally, the toilet will not stop letting water into the bowl. This is because something (usually the chain from the lever) is blocking the flap that covers the hole. Another problem is that the tank won't fill up again. The solution here is to check the floater or fill valve. Parts for these mechanisms can be found at most hardware stores or plumbing supply outlets.

Rainforest Plumbing & Air technicians know toilets inside and out. Give us a call today at (480) 615-7766 to schedule service!

8Other plumbing topics you may be interested in:
Leak Locating | Drains | Underground Utilities | Water Softeners