Toilet, bombonera, water, latrine ... Many are the names that it receives and nevertheless it has not changed much since Alexander Cumming patented the tube in the form of S in 1775 . Its design allowed to seal the pipes and prevent the entry of bad odors coming from the sewers: the odors that rise through the pipes do not penetrate the stagnant water of the toilet. Later the hydraulic closing was incorporated in all the hydraulic systems of the home, allowing the modern bathroom free of bad odors. Let's see how they got it.
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The toilet turned odorless
Toilet: that does not smell . The toilet or latrine became toilets thanks to the design patented by Alexander Cumming. The S-shape of the tube does not allow the complete evacuation of the water, always leaving a certain amount of stagnant water. The water, which is odorless, seals the air from the pipes and does not allow its entry into our home. But not all was good news: stagnant water must be pushed effectively or else our creations will remain in the toilet for our personal enjoyment.
To evacuate the toilet, it is not enough to pour more water: when it is flushed, the water level rises and it rushes to the side of the pipe. Any solid object can not overcome the S-shaped tube because gravity prevents it . Even by pouring a lot of water, we would not always get to evacuate effectively. This is where the siphon effect comes into play.
The siphon effect
Imagine that the S-tube was filled with water. The water column on the side of the pipe falls due to gravity. The cohesive forces of the liquids -we will speak of them in another article- hold the column of water together , pulling the rest of the water in the cup. The siphon effect does not stop until air enters ; At the moment when the water level of the cup lowers enough, air begins to enter the siphon. At that moment the effect is broken, and the water in the cup stops being sucked. In the following video of Discovery MAX is explained very graphically:
The critical step is to fill the siphon and then gravity does the rest. To fill the siphon quickly, part of the water in the tank is diverted : instead of falling into the cup, it goes inside and pushes the stagnant water directly to the siphon . This is how you get to fill the tube quickly and activate the siphon effect. The rest of the water that falls through the cup prevents the water level from lowering and maintains the siphon effect until the cistern is completely emptied.
The problem of water consumption
drought
The toilet allowed to avoid odors and the integration of the bathroom in the modern home . However, it brought with it a remarkable increase in water consumption. According to the EPA , toilets are responsible for around 30% of household water consumption . Most toilets have a larger cistern than necessary and putting a closed water bottle helps reduce the amount of water consumed per flush. If you are thinking of buying a new one, keep in mind that many already incorporate a double drive system ; they allow to discharge little water when it is not necessary to drag solids.