Q: Hey, Ed. I know you will love my idea, and I hope it can be done! I have a gravity flush toilet and I want to get one of those air-pressure flushing systems to replace my present tank insides with the power-flush controls so that I can have a hot-rod toilet that will save water! Can it be done? I'm good with rebuilding things, so if you point me in the right direction for materials, I know I can do it! -- Brad, ArizonaA: Brad, you do indeed sound like a very creative man. Also, because of the area in which you live, I can understand you wanting to save water.
The type of toilet your talking about is what's called a "pressure assist" or a "pressure-lite" toilet. Such a toilet works because there is a special closed tank inside the outer, decorative tank. This special tank fills with water and traps a layer of air at the top of the tank. Here's the cool part: whatever water pressure you have in your house, the trapped air will be the same pressure. So the higher your water pressure, the stronger your flush will be!
I have a pressure-lite flushing system in my own house and it works great. Remember, though, with the compressed air, the flush will be a little louder than that of a gravity flush toilet.
These toilets are purchased as a completely new toilet because the tank and bowl have been redesigned to accept and work with the new flushing system controls. That means your idea of converting a present toilet to this flushing system may not be the way to go. I'm not saying that conversion kits do not exist--nowadays you may be able to find anything on the Internet. I'm just saying that, from my experience, you might be wiser if you look into buying a brand new toilet with an air pressure-assisted flushing system already built in. If you do that, the job will be as easy as simply changing a toilet. And that will take a lot of pressure off you!
Q: Hello, Ed. I really enjoy your advice! You make plumbing easier for basic handy persons like myself who want to try smaller plumbing projects. As a matter a fact, I've just installed a new sump pump, and everything appears to be fine. My question is that now that it's in, how do I test the pump? The sump, of course, is dry right now. What do plumbers do? I'm sure this is a common situation. -- Barry, New Hampshire
A: Thanks, Barry. Being a plumber myself, I always stress to homeowners that plumbers are needed for bigger jobs and that there are limits to what a homeowner can and can't do when it comes to plumbing. Yet these days, with the price of service calls, most plumbers can't afford to come to a home just to turn a valve or flip a switch. My goal is to have homeowners and plumbers work together to keep every plumbing system in tiptop shape.
Now to tackle your question about the sump-pump testing. When a sump pump is installed in a dry sump, it's hard to test because trying to fill the pit with water usually does not work, as the water is often absorbed back into the ground to quickly.
If you have a float-type pump you can simply raise the float arm to hear if the motor runs. And some pumps have a manual or test switch. However, with no water, you will not actually see if there are leaks or how the pump actually runs. How do plumbers handle this? In most cases I did what I could and then waited to see what happened after the first big storm! Usually, if you follow the directions when installing the pump, check valve and piping to specifications, the pump itself will be very reliable. But sometimes with sump pumps you just have to wait and see.
(Ed Del Grande is a certified master plumber and hosts DIY's Ed the Plumber. Send plumbing questions to him at edtheplumber@diynetwork.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service. For building-code concerns, always contact your local government office or a local licensed plumber.)
