[cazort]

I am always happy to find one of these dual flush toilets in a public restroom. This one was in a gender-neutral restroom in a restaurant.

The basic idea is that there are two buttons: one just uses a small amount of water, for “number one” and then if you need more water for “number two” you hit the other button. Because people don’t need that extra water most of the time, it saves a huge amount of water. They are only marginally more expensive than normal toilets and probably pay for themselves in water costs for toilets that get good amounts of regular use.

I really want to see these be the norm, i.e. see all new toilets installed have this setup. It would save a huge amount of water. Water conservation isn’t a huge issue where I live; this area has abundant water, but many parts of the U.S. (and the world) like the arid southwestern U.S., have serious issues with water use, and even here, they do save a significant amount of resources and money.

[roseapprentice]

There’s a style of toilet that seems to be becoming super common that’s a subtler version of this. (It was installed in my last apartment during my stay, and will eventually be installed on my floor at my new place, without any input from me in picking it.)

It flushes using half the water in the tank if you push the handle down briefly, and uses all the water in the tank if you hold it down for a second or two. I really like it because I don’t even have to think about it – my hand automatically picks the appropriate motion for the situation.