Fluidmaster and another chance meeting.

As many of you know, since moving to an arrid region, I have become pretty obsessive when it comes to water usage.

Our well recovers at ~250 gallons in a 24 hour period, so we have a 1700 gallon cistern that operates like a water battery storing it for when it is needed and attempting to make the best use of the well recovery rate.

You have probably also read about the two times the cistern (1700 gallons) was emptied overnight due to a leaking toilet in the sauna room. Since those occasions I have been turning the toilet water off when there is no one visiting and using that toilet.

I have been on a search for a toilet that recognizes a leak and stops trying to fill itself. I have looked at full house leak detectors, of which there are many, but the cost is pretty high (vs. turning off the water to the toilet). I have seen a number of electronic devices, but there is little feed back available, and they look prone to failure.

So taking advantage of a chance meeting at the NASCAR race, previously posted about, with a guy who works in the quality testing group at Kolher, a major US plumbing fixture manufacturer, I had to ask about this situation...kinda like cornering a doctor at a party and going through the "what ails me lists."

After going through the whole story, and I sure boring him to death, we said go to Walmart and get a Fluidmaster water filler with a "Leak Sentry". I have to tell you that as he explained how it worked, I couldn't really picture it. Once I picked one up though, it became very clear on how it worked.

Basically, as the float is raised during the tank filling there is a small slip brake under it that moves with the float up the pedestal of the water fill valve. If the toilet leaks the slip brake keeps the float from dropping and turning on the water fill valve to run water into the leaking tank and in our case draining the cistern.

During normal operation. when the flush lever is depressed lifting the flapper valve to flush the toilet, it also pulls a chain that releases the slip brake allowing the float to drop and a normal tank fill to occur.

Very cool!

Now to be fair since, then I have researched this type of valve on the net and there are a few other companies that also make them. But I haven't found one that also has a bowl refill valve to keep from overfilling the toilet bowl itself. This come as part of the Fluidmaster W43LS.

Fluidmaster also makes a conversion Dual Flush Toilet Fill Valve that enables a small flush for fluids only, and a normal flush for the more weighty results of a library reading session. This is all the rage in the toilet world right now because of its water saving, but we are still part of the "If its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down" crowd.

Now it there was only a triple flush...small for fluids, normal for when only a few kids are being dropped off at the pool, and the "Tsunami flush", so that I can retire my plumbers helper (plunger).