How Does a Pressure Assisted Toilet Work?

A pressure-assisted toiled uses compressed air from inside the tank to force the water, along with the waste, down the drain.

How It Works

Water is fed into the sealed inner chamber of the toilet, mixing with air, which, now under pressure, shoots out the pressurized jet of water to flush the waste. There are no pumps in a pressure-assisted toilet; the water coming in from the water line provides all the water pressure necessary for the toilet to flush.

Pressure-Assisted vs. Traditional

Pressure-assisted toilets range from $200 to $400 and look identical to traditional toilets. Since pressure-assisted toilets have fewer moving parts, the overall maintenance is much lower than traditional toilets.

History

Pressure-assisted toilets first came on the market in 1993. In 1998, Consumer Reports rated the Gerber Ultra Flush, a pressure-assisted toilet, as the Best Buy in low-flush toilets, despite the fact that pressure-assisted toilets were quite noisy flushers at the time.

Drawbacks

Earlier models of pressure-assisted toilets were quite noisy and unreliable, but now improvements have made the current models encounter fewer glitches and hangups.

Benefits

Pressure-assisted toilets remove waste more efficiently than traditional toilets. Waste is carried further down the drain line, leaving the toilet cleaner. By eliminating the need for double-flushing, pressure-assisted toilets can achieve up to 20 percent water savings versus traditional toilets.

References

• Consumer Reports: Toilet Types
• U.S. EPA: Flush Fact vs. Flush Fiction--The Truth About High-Efficiency Toilets
• Seattle Times: Don't Flush Away Cash on an Overpriced Toilet

Resources

• EPA Watersense: Calculate Your Water Savings