My toilet stinks!
Although it’s shiny white porcelain glow, unique design, and lovely matching accessories made it a fashionable find, the real reason my husband and I bought the very special Crane Plumbing toilet from Menard’s was because of its beauty as well as its advertised water saving, money saving, and all around GREEN qualities.
Imagine a toilet with grandeur and “green” attributes; a royal throne fit for a Green Queen. Ah yes… this was indeed the dream. It took weeks of negotiation, preparation, and research before we purchased the toilet. Thrones are special, after all, and purchasing a toilet special enough for this Green Queen did not come cheap.
What a shock we received when it takes three, sometimes four, flushes to get the unmentionable contents to go down the plumbing. We must plunge several times a day to keep everything unclogged. Having purchased this toilet several years ago, I can now say, no – SHOUT - my irritation and disappointment with this horrid bit of porcelain. It is not water saving. It was a rip-off.
Sounds of irritated cursing can regularly be heard from behind the closed bathroom door. Mostly repeated refrains of “OH CRAP!” In fact, Mr. Crapper would be embarrassed that his name should ever be associated with this plumbing reject. Water saving? How is it saving water to flush two, three, sometimes four times instead of a single flush?
Our old toilet; now fondly remembered as “Old Faithful,” never missed a flush. Never clogged, not even once. Compared to the amount of water we are forced to use now, our old toilet (although not labeled “water saving” like the new one is) was definitely saving us water. And what did I do? I threw “Old Faithful” out in the garbage like an old candy wrapper. He’s buried in the landfill now. Lonely and missing our warm bottoms I am sure. Oh the tragedy!
My advice to you is do not buy a “water saving” Crane Plumbing toilet from Menard’s unless you have a guarantee and double-check their return policy. In fact, do your research on what you really get when a product is advertised “water saving.”
Next time you pray to the porcelain god, please put in a good word for me. Why? Because my toilet stinks!
How is your “water-saving” toilet? Is it really saving you water? Is there a better solution? Would love to hear what you have to say - I need some serious toilet help.
Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com
Perhaps you need more fiber in your diet :)
Seriously we have similar, and they only work some of the time.
Have you tried to adjust the fill shutoff to raise the tank level just below the overflow pipe.
Posted by: Jim | May 05, 2009 at 10:40 AM
Shawna,
We recently stayed at the City Flats Hotel in Holland, Michigan...brand new, very cool, very green, very reasonable. They had the two stage toilets that Susan mentioned and they were very effective. I know they would give you the info - they are really eager to share what they're doing!
www.cityflatshotel.com
It might make a short little field trip for you and your family!!! Another eco-tour - Yahoo!
Posted by: Julia | May 01, 2009 at 07:16 AM
My kingdom! My kingdom! My kingdom for a decent water saving toilet!
I tried calling Crane Plumbing today - I was on hold for a total of three hours. No kidding - good thing THEY paid for the call. No one ever got to me. Incredibly frustrating.
Shawna
Posted by: Shawna Coronado | April 30, 2009 at 08:54 PM
Shawna,
Yes all these low flow toilet stink and do not flush well. Like Susan said add a bottle of water to your tank a qt or even a gallon if you can the the normal tank. Sorry your dreams were not realized on the throne..
Posted by: Randy | April 30, 2009 at 06:54 PM
If you want to replace it try the two stage toilets. They were all over Israel. The button is normally a circle divided in 2/3 and 1/3 sections. The smaller push is for a low force flush for liquids and the larger one gives you more force for solids. It's what we want to get if we can ever redo the bathrooms.
Posted by: Susan | April 30, 2009 at 10:19 AM
One of my favorite methods I've heard is using a water bottle or two filled with water to semi-permanently displace the water in your tank. The cool part is that you can also measure the exact amount you are displacing (volume of said bottle). Unfortunately I'm a poor college student living at home and have no say in the household toilet matters so I haven't actually tried this myself.
Posted by: Nicholas | April 30, 2009 at 10:10 AM