Why is there so much water in your toilet bowls?

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GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit

Because poop is gross and I want it submerged. Also, depending where you live, water is abundant and its not concerning to use a lot.

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I have lived in Europe for 4 of the past 6 years. Having to use a scrubber after almost every poop. Also dont understand why the shower “door” goes 1/3 the length of the shower and does nothing to keep water in the shower area.

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BB-48_WestVirginia@reddit

Europeans are too poor to afford the other 2/3 of a shower door 😥

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HoldMyWong@reddit

I’ve been to so many hotels in Northern Europe that don’t even have a shower door, like what. Water just gets all over the floor

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TheBimpo@reddit

I'd truly love to have this explained. Why must the entire bathroom get wet? Where am I supposed to dry myself?

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BB-48_WestVirginia@reddit

I wonder if this explains why some of them think the idea of a outlet it the bathroom is inherently dangerous.

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TheBimpo@reddit

Yet their towels rest on electrified heaters.

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Chimney-Imp@reddit

When we say America is number 1, it's entirely in reference to how much of a shower door we have

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BB-48_WestVirginia@reddit

British: Not 2 world wars: won Freedom: Yes Shower doors: all of them Raaah! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🦅🦅🦅

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TheBimpo@reddit

We don't need to inspect our poops for worms or other parasites because our food and water supply is safe. Feces smells bad so submerging it under water is a very effective method of odor control. We have modern wastewater treatment facilities so treating sewage is inexpensive. What's "efficient" about having less water in a toilet? Is water that hard to source in Europe? Do you guys not have sufficient water to handle sewage? Should we worry about you?

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OrangeNarwhal23@reddit

The amount of water in the tank (not the bowl) affects how the toilet flushes.

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wwhsd@reddit

I’d think that turds floating in water are going to flush much easier than a pile of poop that’s sitting high and dry in the opening to the drain of the toilet.

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TheBimpo@reddit

I'm familiar. A few gallons of water that's practically free and later treated at a municipal facility. Newer toilet designs use less water. When the preeminent style of toilet used here was made the default through inertia, we didn't really have water use concerns. Criticizing us for "wasting water" by filling our toilet bowls with it is nonsense. The earth does not have a finite amount of water, it's going to be ok.

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OrangeNarwhal23@reddit

Newer toilets anywhere use less water. My house has two old toilets from the 80s with so much water in the bowl that your penis touches it if you're not careful. We replaced one of our toilets in 2005, and this new one has much less water in both the bowl and the tank.

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GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit

Sneaky humble brag. ...not all of us would have that issue.

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TheBimpo@reddit

Yeah it's wild how new designs for products happen over time.

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yoshilurker@reddit

This question should be crossposted to r/AmericaBad

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vegemar@reddit

This was actually a real shock for me when I first visited the US. The water kept rising and I was worried that it was going to flood my hotel room.

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w84primo@reddit

Do you know how many liters of water your toilet uses?

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TheBlueprint666@reddit (OP)

Probably older toilets, and to be fair my experience is mostly from hotels rather than household toilets.

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w84primo@reddit

Oh ok. I’ve been in some hotels with older toilets. Some even have a pressure assist which is very loud.

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CinemaSideBySides@reddit

Why is there so little water in your toilet bowls? In all seriousness, I have no idea what determines the water levels in a toilet bowl from one country to another. I do think the water helps with avoiding streaks and stains as well as helping to mitigate smell. Poop exposed to the air is a lot stronger smelling than poop submerged in water.

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Either-Caregiver-497@reddit

I completely agree! I lived in an RV for a year while travelling and the toilet there is SO much more water efficient. There's a foot pedal you step on to fill the bowl with the amount of water you need, then when youre done, you press that same pedal all the way down which opens the flap at the bottom (and sends more water to flush it). After, you add an inch or so of water to make the 'vapor seal' and keep the odors in. It's a great system and uses maybe 1/3-1/4th the water! So much better

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GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit

Nothing about an RV toilet is good.

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Either-Caregiver-497@reddit

Idk man I just got home from over a year of using one and I still prefer it to my regular house one, never had issues with it. Maybe they've improved over the years. Even my master plumber friend likes the system, and his life is based on toilets!

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GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit

Cramped, uncomfortable, unsanitary, chemically, and requiring an undignified disposal process. I've used many different, albeit slightly older, types of RVs and campers over the years. My family traveled all over the country in a camper.

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Either-Caregiver-497@reddit

I have a rear bath model so my trailer’s toilet is very spacious, designed for wheel chair people (I’m 26 and healthy so more than enough for me). No issues on cramped or comfort. We keep ours clean, that sounds like a personal thing. You pour 2 ounces of treatment in once a week, that’s not that many chemicals. The ‘undignified’ disposal process is hooking up 2 hoses and pulling 2 levers. Idk whatsup with your family but it sounds more like user end problems to me

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Ella_Mental_@reddit

modern plumbing systems vs old world ancient plumbing "systems" lol

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rawbface@reddit

I have no idea where this comes from. Not all toilets are the same and I have never once noticed LESS water in European toilets. OP what specifically is your experience with this? Every toilet in my house is 1.4 gallons per flush (~5 liters). That's considered a "low flow" toilet in Europe, so your premise isn't correct.

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machagogo@reddit

Because North America holds 45% of the worlds continental fresh water with the great Lakes containing about 20% of that on it's own. I'd rather my shit fall into water than land on a poop shelf and then have to clean the bowl after every shit like in much of Europe.

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syringa@reddit

Why are some of your toilets just holes in the floor?

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OrangeNarwhal23@reddit

That's an Asian thing, not European.

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syringa@reddit

I've been to Spain, Italy, France, Austria, and Germany and I encountered the hole in the floor on several occasions in both France and Italy. Not every single one but they definitely exist.

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steven_cornthrob@reddit

to make the poopie go away good we make up for the waste with urinals that almost no one ever flushes

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CosmicVegTunes@reddit

Most new construction has low-flow, so we're learning to conserve, though slowly.

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ialwaysforget44@reddit

More is more here in America 🇺🇸🦅

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TillPsychological351@reddit

I've lived in Europe. I've used those German toilets where your stool usually lands on a little platform and you hope the flush has enough power to whisk it all down the drain... which doesn't always happen, then you need to clean the toilet to get rid of the large smear that's left over. I'll take the North American design, where your waste plops in the water and reliable gets completely disposed of with every flush.

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pigeontheoneandonly@reddit

There was actually a big push to move to more efficient toilets that use less water some years ago. The issue is that especially in residential settings, many toilets are grandfathered in that still use high volumes of water. Early high efficiency toilets also had very poor performance, again especially residential models, which left people with the impression that they would constantly clog and be a pain to use, leading people to avoid purchasing them. In many places, if you buy a new toilet it is required to be an efficiency model. People just don't have a reason to buy new toilets very often.

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MrLongWalk@reddit

Meanwhile other Europeans have complained about how little water is in our toilets.

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Handsome-Jim_@reddit

If you saw what I do to a toilet after a bean burrito then you'd understand. I'll take pictures next time .....

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