The purchase of a toilet is much more complicated than it used to be. Instead of having only one basic type of toilet to choose from, there are numerous toilet styles made by many manufacturers. The double flush toilet is a style that is being imposed for environmental and financial reasons.
Gerber Plumbing 21-372 Gerber Ultra Flush Watersense Elongated Toilet Bowl Only, White
Advantage - Environmental Impact
Dual-flush cisterns have a two-configuration activation mechanism that uses either a two-position lever or a two-button system. This allows you to decide whether or not you want to use a high volume color of water or a low volume color. The ability to use a smaller amount of water, when only washing away liquids allows you to ultimately save as much as a gallon and a half of water in each of the hot flashes, reducing your home's water consumption.
Advantage - Cost
In addition to the environmental boost for water savings, this also reduces your water bill over time. Dual discharge cisterns are also considered high efficiency. This means that some states have discount programs in place that help people subsidize the cost of upgrading the toilet in their home to a model that uses less water. Certainly, if you have this kind of bonus in your state, installing a double-flush toilet in the home will be more affordable than buying an old, non-efficient model.
Disadvantage - Cleaning
If you buy a double-flush toilet, you should expect to clean more often than you had to clean the standard toilets. The reason for this is that after each discharge, less water remains in the container. The toilet will start to look dirtier faster than standard-flush toilets do.
Disadvantage - Cost
Dual-flush cisterns are more expensive than the other options you could choose. Certainly, they are more expensive than a standard toilet. Both the cost of the purchase and the installation cost are higher than that of a standard toilet. A double-flush toilet, however, is often more expensive even than other high-efficiency toilet designs.