Mar 28 2007
Adding a modern bathroom addition is a smart way to increase the value of your home, cut your water bills, and protect our nation's natural resources.
Installing a low-consumption toilet -- even in the basement using new above-ground plumbing from Saniflo -- a family of four can save 50 gallons a day, or nearly 20,000 gallons a year. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, residential toilets account for about one-third of indoor household water use -- or more than 2.1 trillion gallons annually.
If your home was built before 1992, when the federal government began mandating low-flush toilets, your existing toilets likely use 3.5 gallons per flush (gpm). (If your home dates back to the 1950s or earlier, you may have a 5.5-gpm or even a 7-gpm guzzler!)
But what if you want to add a bathroom in the basement or garage where none currently exists? The high cost of pounding through cement to install drainage lines can easily out-pace the money you'll save on your water bill. The simple solution? Saniflo above-floor plumbing.
With Saniflo's modern, low-consumption toilet systems that use special plumbing technology, there's no need to dig up the basement floor to install drainage for a new bathroom.
"Installing a sub-level Saniflo system not only solves a costly plumbing problem, it also makes it easy to reduce water usage," says Saniflo national sales manager Bob Lechner. "All Saniflo toilets are low-consumption, and one model, the Sanicompact, uses only one gallon per flush."
Looking very much like a conventional toilet, a macerating toilet takes up roughly the same amount of floor space. But instead of routing the flush water through a drain beneath the toilet in the floor, the system moves it to a macerating pump, usually located on the floor between the toilet and the wall. (It can be hidden behind the wall if you prefer.)
The pump mechanism uses a fast-rotating blade to liquefy waste and toilet paper in the flush water, releasing the waste under pressure through small-diameter piping to the sewer or septic tank. There's no special maintenance, and the pump is sealed for life. The fixtures will work up to 12 feet below and as far as 150 feet away from a septic tank or sewer line.
If you've never stopped to think about how much water you use at home, Earth Day on April 22 is a great time to start. At greatly reduced labor costs and with superior installation flexibility, Saniflo low-flush systems are an excellent way to make a local difference that can have a global effect -- on Earth Day and everyday!