Toilet

David Johnson (mailto:pinefarm@UNIONTEL.NET)
Fri, 14 Mar 1997 07:40:28 -0800 

Message-ID:  <3329716C.5FD3@uniontel.net>
Date:         Fri, 14 Mar 1997 07:40:28 -0800
From: David Johnson <mailto:pinefarm@UNIONTEL.NET>
Subject:      Toilet
To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU


Years ago, in Japan, I saw a toilet in a restaurant in a small
town than which there can be no better.
        It was a conventional tank type except that it was triangular in
shape so that it fit nicely into a corner. The flushing handle, however,
was marked on either side with the Japaanese symbols for "Big" and
"Small" [ "Oki" and "Chisai" if I recall my Nihongo"]
        If you pushed the handle to the right, you got a small flush,
push it to the left and you got a big one. You decide.
        I took the top of the tank off to see how this worked and saw
that it worked like an emergency "tank' on a motorcycle. A tube stuck up
from the bottom to about 4 inches below the "full" water level. When you
pushed the flush handle to the right, a stopper in the top of this tube
was pulled off and the tank flushed down the 4 inches of water covering
the top of the tube.
        If you pushed it to the left, a stopper in the bottom of the tank
opened and the entire contents flushed down.
        The tank cover was built with an indentation the size and shape
of a small wash basin. The water returning to refill the tank didn't flow
directly into the tank. It flowed out a bent tube which was over the
"basin' and discharged down into the basin.
        The basin drained down into the tank. There was a small bar of
soap sitting on the tank top and it was obvious that you were to wash
your hands with the returning water. This not only conserved the water
you might have used washing your hands in a conventional sink, it also
eliminated the need for a sink and, the soapy water which flowed down
into the tank made for a more efficient flush the next time.
        Now, if anyone knows of any flush toilet design that can beat
that one, I would like to hear about it!
         The amazing thing is that I saw this about 20 years ago and have
never seen any of its features on any toilet anywhere in the world
including anywhere else in Japan.
                Dave Johnson