Recommendations for community hall toilets?

[dunstergirl]

Hi all,

We are looking to replace the original toilets in our 25-year-old community hall with low-flow toilets.

After reading much here on this site and elsewhere, I am leaning toward either the Toto Drake or the Toto Ultramax as ideal for our needs (or perhaps even the EcoDrake or EcoUltramax depending on price/availability). But I'd appreciate other thoughts and suggestions.

This is a small community where we rent the hall for meetings, dances, etc. The capacity is 180 people, which is rarely reached at a function, but we have occasions, such as our annual Ice Cream Social, where up to 600 people may pass through the building in 2 hours, and everyone of course uses the toilet (of which we have only 3 - 2 in the ladies and 1 in the mens, plus urinal)! Our aging water supply system is having increasing difficulty keeping up at busy events, and this is mainly due to toilet use.

What I'm trying to say is that usage can be very heavy during an event, but sporadic over the course of a year (unlike a restaurant or the like where use would be steady year-round) so I'm looking for something that will stand up to that use (and of course, flush everything away that people are likely to put in toilets that aren't their own). Relative ease of cleaning would be a plus. I'm assuming a standard 12" rough-in but realized I need to go check that.

I have looked at some of the "dual flush" systems and wonder if anyone has experience with them in a commercial setting - are such systems clearly labelled or do you need to provide instructions?

Another question I have is about hard water. The water supply is very hard here, and calcium deposits seem to build up on everything over time. I believe that is why my aging, older generation low-flow toilet (which I am considering replacing with a Toto also) no longer works properly. So I am hoping to find a toilet where either that won't cause problems or such deposits could be easily removed.

Finally, are there any BC plumbers here who can tell me what, if any requirements there are for toilets in "commercial" buildings in the province? We will do one ADA toilet in each of the ladies and mens as we are wheelchair-accessible, but I'm wondering if I need elongated bowl or specific seat type for the second ladies toilet? We're sort of under the radar but there's no sense in installing a new toilet that's not to code and having to replace it later for that reason.

Anyway, any suggestions, further reading material, etc. is appreciated. I looked at the MaP testing reports but found them very difficult to interpret in terms of comparisons (apart from how many grams of soybean paste they will flush!).

Thank you!
Lelani

[dunstergirl]

Sorry, forgot this in my post - as we are a DIY community and plumbers are in very short supply in this rural area, another requirement is ease of installation and maintenance. I'm especially concerned about durability of internal parts (flappers and such) and cost of replacing them if/when they do fail, so this will be part of the buying decision as well.

Thanks again!
Lelani

[markts30]

I would go wtih an elongated bowl, ADA height with open front seat for "handicapped requirements"...
Elongated bowl, regular height with the open front seats for standard stalls...
.
.
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PS - might want to have your community update their webpage...
last updated march, 2003... it is a little out of date...LOL
http://dunsterbc.net/
(still advertising "Old Tyme Dance & Collectibles Auction
Saturday, March 29, 2003, Dunster Hall")

PPS - that area of BC is gorgeous - you are lucky to be living there...

[Terry]

I used Toto fixtures years ago for the Church I go to.
It's worked out very well.

I think either the 1.6 or the 1.28 Eco would work fine.
Flappers and fill valves are easy to get.

My family used to spend time at their cabin on Lake Quesnel in Summer, Good times there.
I also have good memories of a wet stormy night in the Canadian Rockies in Jasper Provincial Park.
Water was running through tents, so they brought their wet bedding into the shelter to dry.
My pup tent was dry, we were on a 22 day car camping trip, 21 different campgrounds, we were pretty good at ditching around the tent to drain away water, we had to be, there was no floor to the tent.
There must have been thirty of us staying up late, and singing late into the night, interrupted occasionally by loud crashing lighting bolts.
In that park, you're not all that far from where the flash and boom start.

[Peanut9199]

If you have a problem with hard water you may want to add the "Sani-gloss" finish to your Drake toilet. It won't stop the calcium build up but it will help reduce some.
You can only get it on the Elongated regular height bowls.

You may want to invest in a water softener, it's cheaper in the long run.

[dunstergirl]

Thanks for all the replies. Are there any other comparably priced brands I should be considering or is this really our best bet? I'll have to do a bit of "selling" to the community association as I think we budgeted $500 for all three, and these are going to cost more than that. Any potential drawbacks I should be worried about?

I want to make sure we get something that will work well for a long time and perhaps serve as a "demo" for other people looking at buying low-flow toilets in the future.

As for the web site, that's unfortunately my baby, started with the best of intentions but day-to-day life seems to get in the way of keeping it up. A couple of community members were going to take it over last year and update it, but their lives got busy as well and it never happened.

And yes, it's a beautiful part of the world and I am very lucky to be here. We're about 1.5 hours west of Jasper (which is where I first fell in love with this part of the world), and I've done my time in wet tents (even got snowed on while out backpacking) in that park also...

Lelani

[molo]

I would go wtih an elongated bowl, ADA height with open front seat for "handicapped requirements"...
Elongated bowl, regular height with the open front seats for standard stalls...
.
.
.
PS - might want to have your community update their webpage...
last updated march, 2003... it is a little out of date...LOL
http://dunsterbc.net/
(still advertising "Old Tyme Dance & Collectibles Auction
Saturday, March 29, 2003, Dunster Hall")

PPS - that area of BC is gorgeous - you are lucky to be living there...

Mark, I don't see Dunster in her posts, how did you determine the location?

[markts30]

1st... Her name is "Dunstergirl"
2nd... She said in her post "Finally, are there any BC plumbers here who can tell me " So she is from BC...

Not that mysterious...