Kohler Rialto - how long to drain?

Hi, all - I was hoping someone out there might have a Kohler Rialto and be able to answer a quick question about it...you will earn my undying gratitude, and especially that of our downstairs neighbors.

I need to know how long it takes for the water to drain out when the Rialto is flushed - more specifically, how many seconds is it between the pressing of the flush level, and the moment when water stops flowing OUT of the bowl.

This bit of information is important, as our condo building has an old wet-vented drain system, and the Toto Drake that we installed overwhelms it with water when it flushes - with the result that our first-floor neighbor gets a big air bubble coming up through the water in their toilet. (I posted about this problem over the summer.)

We need to find the slowest-flushing toilet that will still do a decent job....the Eljer Canturbury seems very slow-flushing indeed, but I've heard that its performance is also kind of bad. The Rialto seems like it might be a good compromise - most of the other toilets out there have gone to faster flushing systems, but the Rialto seems to have held on to an older design, perhaps because it's so compact.

Thanks in advance - and again, wow, this is one amazing discussion group!

Just say no.

The Rialto is not a good toilet.

ask Mr Overkill and all the others who used keyword Rialto in their posts. You send them a Private Message (PM), some will get it, and some will respond.

I think the Rialto has had good feedback in general.

David

p.s. you can also call the major manufacturers and talk to the tech support -- customer support people. They know a lot.

If a toilet flush is affecting another toilet, you have something wrong with the drain, and I would not assume that putting a "slow" toilet in will fix that.

jimbo said:

If a toilet flush is affecting another toilet, you have something wrong with the drain, and I would not assume that putting a "slow" toilet in will fix that.

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The construction of the drain system is "wrong" by today's standards, so you're quite correct. But...the problem started immediately when we installed the Drake, and we've experimented with letting water go down more slowly, and it seems to alleviate the problem.

The slower toilet might not fix it, but we figure it's worth trying before doing a rebuild of the drain system!

@Geniescience - thanks, excellent tip about PM-ing people! And re. customer support - Eljer was brilliant; Kohler a lot less so.

geniescience said:

ask Mr Overkill and all the others who used keyword Rialto in their posts. You send them a Private Message (PM), some will get it, and some will respond.

I think the Rialto has had good feedback in general.

David

p.s. you can also call the major manufacturers and talk to the tech support -- customer support people. They know a lot.

Click to expand...

yea. What he said.
They are used frequently here in luxury desert condos. Especially in hallway "powder rooms". My Dad has had one for many years with no issues. I understand the pros and cons. Personally I wouldn't have one but I understand the attraction.

Sorry Bosun-- but Just stating that the "Rialto is a bad toilet" doesn't cut it.

Mike

toilet

No matter what toilet you install, it still only uses 1.6 gallons of water, which is not enough to cause a problem elsewhere. The only area where I have ever heard of using "wet venting" for multiple levels is in Philadelphia, and their system is supposed to be oversized to prevent the problem. You might want to contact a good plumber to analyze the problem to be sure you have diagnosed it properly.

hj said:

No matter what toilet you install, it still only uses 1.6 gallons of water, which is not enough to cause a problem elsewhere. The only area where I have ever heard of using "wet venting" for multiple levels is in Philadelphia, and their system is supposed to be oversized to prevent the problem. You might want to contact a good plumber to analyze the problem to be sure you have diagnosed it properly.

Click to expand...

The problem isn't the amount of water - it's the rate at which it enters the drainpipe. Our old (pre-Toto) toilet drained 3.5 gallons in a leisurely fashion and we never had any problems. The new Toto only uses 1.6 gallons, but it shoots it down the pipe with vigor; as soon as it was installed, the problem began. As I understand it, the old wet-vent systems work OK as long as the flow is slow enough that the water doesn't form a complete seal inside the pipe as it goes down.

Believe me, we've had MANY plumbers weigh in on this over the last year or so! As noted above, the "right" solution is to completely rebuild the drain stack in our 3-floor condo building to modern standards. But that's a hugely expensive and disruptive project, so we're looking for a nice slow toilet that has a good chance of solving the immediate problem.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who's responding - it's a huge help as we try to get this cleared up!