Toto in high water areas

Hi all,

I am usually down in the pumps forum fielding questions. I am not a plumber by any stretch so I have a toilet question.

In my pool house (seperate from the main house) the septic tank is a blocked up hole in the ground covered with concrete. It only services the one toilet and a shower that is used seldom.

When it rains heavilly (I'm in west central Florida) water stands in the yard an inch or so deep for days sometimes. During these days and several after, the toilet (a low flow, don't know the brand) fills to the rim and goes down very slowly.

My question, will the Toto or similiar brand help force the water out into the already saturated ground moreso than this cheap toilet I now have?

Thanks for you forum Terry, it is a great one and I enjoy it a bunch.

bob...

A pressure assist toilet will tend to send waste further into an empty soil pipe. In your case, I cannot see where there is enough pressure to make any difference flushing into a high water table.

I was afraid you would say the jimbo.


What about the idea that this toilet is just a lousy flusher, and the Toto is a fantastic flusher. Do you see some help in that respect. The reason I ask, is when it's dry out, winter, whatever. This toilet still flushes lousy.

bob...

I've only got limited experience with toilets in my home, but the Toto's I've put in when remodeling are vastly superior to the builder's specials that were here (brand unknown). But, it sounds like your septic tank and leach fields are saturated, and when that happens, there is no room for anything to flow out. This can create big problems since it can force solids that normally fall to the bottom of the tank out into the leach field, and clog it up with paper and particles, blocking absorbtion of the water that is normally flowing out of a septic tank.

No problem there Jim, there are no leach fields. This tank is nothing more than a hole dug, then blocked up on all four sides. There is no bottom in this hole. The tank itself measures about 4 X 12 feet and about 5 foot deep. Water is allowed to run in/out through the blocks, which are not mortered and out the bottom I assume.

I understand toilets operate on mostly gravity, but was hoping this new variety would offer some help in moving the water down the pipe better than this builders special might.

bob...

If the pit is full of water, doesn't matter what kind of a flush you get.

Ok explain this.

The house has it's own septic and leach field which works flawlessly, whether the ground is dry or saturated with water. There are two bathrooms, kitchen laundry etc. The pool house and main house are on the same elevation as are the two tanks which are 80 feet apart.

The house works fine, but has the old style 5gpm + toilets. The poolroom has this junkie low flow thing that probably was the first one made after the mandate.

bob...

toilet or sewer

If water lays in the sewer pipe, because you say "high water" then no toilet will work.
Find out why the water is too high at the septic or field bed.
I don't think its a toilet problem.....

I know why the pipe gets full of water. When it rains 6 inches in less than 4 hours, the sandy soil we have which is sitting on top of hardpan at about 3-5 feet won't tank any more water. The sand is fine and doesn't absorb like coarser sands would. Once saturated, the water starts to puddle in the yard and tries to slowly run off to ditch's etc.

The reason I say it's the toilet is that both tanks are on the same level, both have 3" pipe going straight to the tanks. One works all the time, the other one doesn't. The one that works is the old high flow toilet, the one that doesn't is a low flow.

bob...

High toilet

But, are you talking about two different septic tanks?

Yes sir. Two different tanks.

Not being there makes this hard, but I think you are missing the obvious. Your open tank, no leach line outlet is filling up with water during the heavy rains. Until that water seeps out, there is no place for the toilet to drain to - the pipe and hole is full. The real septic system has a tank that is sealed except for the inlet pipes and outlet pipes. Normally, this has some empty space in it. Thus, there is room after the rains for some sewage to flow into the tank. My bet is that if you ran a lot of water, you might end up with the same problem, since your leach lines are probably incapable for the short duration from leaching anything out of the tank once it gets full (which may not happen under normal circumstances.

If you have a cover you can look in, I'd bet that the open pit is probably full of water. My unprofessional opinion.

I tend to agree Jim, but I still hate that low flow toilet.

Of coarse of the Toto won't help, Terry is going to lose a sale.

bob...