There are a lot of advantages to replacing your old toilets with new low flow toilets. You’ll save money on your water bill and help conserve the environment. One benefit of low flow toilets that is often overlooked is that low flow toilets can help extend the life of your septic system.
The reason is that septic systems can only handle a certain volume of water and in general, the less water that flows through the system the better it will work. A septic system works by routing household waste water to the septic tank where it is held about 48 hours to allow solid material to settle to the bottom of the tank and oils and greases to float to the top.
A system of baffles holds these sludge and scum layers in the tank while allowing the liquid to flow out into the drain field where it percolates into the soil. The more water that flows through the system, the less time the water is held in the septic tank and the more solid material that makes its way out into the drain field where it will eventually clog up the soil.
Older toilets use between 3.5 and 7 gallons of water per flush. New low flow toilets use as little as 1.3 gallons per flush and perform just as well. Saving a couple gallons per flush may not seem like much, but the average family of four uses about 75 gallons of water per day for flushing the toilet. That’s about 27,000 gallons per year.
Depending on the type of toilets you have in your home, you can save anywhere from ten to fifteen thousand gallons of water per year by installing low flow toilets. You can save big on your water bill while helping extend the life of your septic system with new low flow toilets.
