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Caroma Water Saving Toilets |
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Over 25 years ago the Australian government asked Caroma to help them achieve much needed water conservation goals with more efficient toilets. Australians understood that over 35% of the water used in a home goes down the toilet, so if they could reduce the amount of water required for flushing it would greatly help their conservation efforts. The Caroma mission statement was simple; first and foremost make a toilet that works well, secondly make it work well using very little water. Water conservation without performance was simply not an option, as this would lead to certain failure in the marketplace. Caroma spent 10 years studying toilet flushing systems worldwide in an effort to achieve both of the goals. North American manufacturers produce toilets that use a siphonic flushing system. Siphonic toilets swirl water around the bowl to create a vacuum or siphon in the trapway, so water leaves the bowl first, pulling waste out afterward. While this system works very well when large qualities of water are allowed, it is much more problematic when water is limited to less than 1.6 gallons. To still be able to create the siphon action, trapways had to be reduced to generally around 2 inches. Naturally, the reduced trap size made clogging common. Water conscious European manufacturers have been using "wash down" flushing systems for nearly a hundred years. Unlike North American toilets, wash down systems do not have to create a siphon in the trapway. A steeper pitched bowl coupled with an open rim design pushes the water very quickly through the trapway, forcing the waste out first, followed by water. 
There are several advantages to wash down sytems. Because they do not have to create a siphon, trapways are able to stay much larger. Caroma toilets feature 4-inch trapways that are almost impossible to clog. Caroma toilets also allow for superior line carry, as waste is forced out first, followed by the water. Once Caroma was satisfied that they had discovered the optimum toilet flush system, to complete their mission statement they had to greatly reduce the water required to flush their toilets without compromising performance. Dr. Steve Cummings, head of R&D for Caroma came to the realization that while you may require 1.6 gallons of water to flush solid waste, to use this much water to flush a few ounces of liquid waste is completely unnecessary. The Dual Flush toilet is such a success story that it has been mandatory throughout Australia for many years, and most of the country has been retrofitted with Dual Flush, significantly reducing the strain on their fresh water supply. Caroma understands that a safe and healthy future for our children depends on new environmental innovations today. This is why Caroma will continue to take a leadership role in safeguarding the world's most precious resource by pushing the limits of water conservation. |
Thus the Caroma Dual Flush toilet using 0.8 gallons for liquid waste and 1.6 gallons for solid waste was born. The Caroma Dual Flush toilet has been setting industry standards for performance and conservation for over 13 years with tens of millions sold.