Interesting story on water saving that might apply for Auckland

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neb

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#277202 1-Oct-2020 14:59

Interesting story in today's Guardian, Dual-flush toilets 'wasting more water than they save' . Since many (most?) NZ toilets are now dual flush, could addressing this help deal with e.g. Auckland's pending water crisis?

tdgeek

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#2577348 1-Oct-2020 15:17

I've had 2 outlet valve assemblies replaced in 2 of the three toilets in our 10yo house this year. Plumber said they last 5-7 years, a common problem. Never had a leaking toilet in all the years before with siphon based ones.

neb

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#2577351 1-Oct-2020 15:21

Our dual-flush is busy leaking right now, haven't had it fixed since it's due to be tossed during the rebuild, but they are a huge pain. Now multiply that by half a million to a million in all of Auckland...

Geektastic

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#2577353 1-Oct-2020 15:23

Put a brick in the cistern.

tripper1000

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#2577355 1-Oct-2020 15:28

Thanks for the link. Interesting article cos my Mrs has a leaky dual flush that the plumber has already tried and failed to fix once. I found it was as they say - failing to seal after a flush - and if you lift the cistern lid and give the mechanism a wiggle or a twist then it reseals properly.

I think Auckland's problem is a bit more fundamental than this - the population has grown a lot without corresponding upgrades to the infrastructure.

neb

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#2577364 1-Oct-2020 16:12

tripper1000:
Thanks for the link. Interesting article cos my Mrs has a leaky dual flush that the plumber has already tried and failed to fix once.

Yup, that's our one too.

Bung

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#2577366 1-Oct-2020 16:20

The last cistern I can remember that had a siphon was the old Stanley copper tank surrounded in plywood. In those days the overflow went out through the wall and a leaking fill valve was more obvious. Now a constant leak into the bowl could be either valve and it is easier to ignore.

A lot of the flush valve seal replacements don't fit as well as the original parts. On a Caroma if the seal is too thick to fit and rotate freely it won't sit flat and will leak. The typical spares from M10 and Bunnings aren't consistent. That's no excuse for the plumber to cop out and do complete replacements.

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Zeon

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#2577367 1-Oct-2020 16:43

Have hooked some of the toilets up to rainwater tank. Not sure if the water saving makes economic sense but can feel better about it :)

Speedtest 2019-10-14

PolicyGuy

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#2577399 1-Oct-2020 18:20

tripper1000:

I think Auckland's problem is a bit more fundamental than this - the population has grown a lot without corresponding upgrades to the infrastructure.

This

A depressingly typical NZ Local Government problem:

Step 1: have a major corporatisation / amalgamation / outsource of a critical service / infrastructure

Step 2: Tell the new / restructured / outsource supplier that the first priority is to demonstrate how good the new arrangements are - and therefore how clever the politicians pushing for it are - by having lower charges for the service. This will be the Number One KPI for the CEO's salary / bonus.

Step 3: The new supplier cuts costs to the bone, particularly by deferring maintenance and development of the system - "sweating the assets". When the experienced professional staff start complaining about this, restructure them out of the business.

Step 4: Rates / charges for the service go down slightly or are kept constant in actual dollar terms. Policticians are pleased, senior executives take home fabulous salaries

A few years later, it all turns to custard, but the guilty parties are long retired or promoted out of the line of fire.

Suddenly, there's a need to claw back five or more years of nil rates rises that should have been 2% or 3% p.a.
Much screaming results.