4 ms·

I don't think the average kiwi has seen a cheque in decades. After 10 years of living in the US I have started to rejoice in how despite being one of the most t

by knz 11y ago

I don't think the average kiwi has seen a cheque in decades. After 10 years of living in the US I have started to rejoice in how despite being one of the most technologically advanced nations on earth the US still clings to things like paper cheques, $0.01/$0.05/$0.10 coins, US customary units, and a plumbing system that requires most houses to own a plunger. Perhaps it's a sign of assimilation?

JoshTriplett 11y ago
> and a plumbing system that requires most houses to own a plunger. Getting off topic for the article at hand, but what's different in Australian plumbing in that area?
- codeka 11y ago
  https://youtu.be/ryIQYYogQ8A https://youtu.be/ryIQYYogQ8A I've literally never owned a plunger in my whole life, and I don't know anybody who does. It baffles me everything I'm in the US and every toilet has a plunger!
  - matwood 11y ago
    Why wouldn't these be the default in all new construction everywhere? Are there downsides?
    - Rapzid 11y ago
      Not that I'm aware of. Lived in NZ for 5 years and just moved into a brand new construction in CA just a few months back. Terrible. I've had to plunge(technically I use the scrubber to generate the pressure) a few times already :( Also, the showers mostly all have baskets under the drain caps to capture hair and stuff now.
      - matwood 11y ago
        I searched Lowes website and could not find any toilets like this. There has to be some reason!
  - crwll 11y ago
    I don't think any toilet built here in Finland since at least the 50's (some of those still exist, earlier I'm not sure of) have needed a plunger either, those things just work. The US plunger thing just baffles me. And banking too, sure.
- knz 11y ago
  I can only speak for New Zealand, but the whole disposal method is fundamentally different. Instead of relying upon the swirling/draining motion to dispose of the waste, water is forced straight down into the much larger gap. Every kiwi/aussie who has stayed with me (in multiple homes) has complained about US toilets!
  - wsfull 11y ago
    You forgot to mention the option of half flush or full flush.
    - Wingman4l7 11y ago
      Some newer toilets in the US will have this, but it's not nearly as common as it is in AU. I figure it's because of differing attitudes on water conservation.
  - dpark 11y ago
    > Instead of relying upon the swirling/draining motion to dispose of the waste It makes me sad and annoyed whenever I flush one of these toilets. The swirling doesn't do anything useful. It seems to actually increase the clogging probability because it typically manages to swirl 100% of the toilet paper together and then finally move it downward all at once for maximum clogging effect, which might be fine if the drain weren't ~2 inches across. There are American toilets that aren't like this, but a shocking number of them are completely unreliable. I had a toilet in my apartment in California that, no lie, I managed to clog by blowing my nose. I used 3 Kleenex, dropped them in the toilet, and flushed. It clogged from that.
op00to 11y ago
OK, explain the plunger comment please?
- knz 11y ago
  Nearly every home I have ever been into in the US owns a plunger due to poor performance of US toilets. Every kiwi who has stayed with me has had issues. I think the biggest proof of how useless they are is the fact that if you go to Home Depot and browse their toilets you will see the "flush performance" heavily featured in the marketing. As far as I can tell it's due to how the waste is disposed of (relying upon a draining/swirling motion rather than forcing water straight down) and the size of the outlet. I actually had the lower level of a house destroyed by a toilet that was blocked and overflowed. It just doesn't happen back in New Zealand!

by knz 11y ago

JoshTriplett 11y ago

> and a plumbing system that requires most houses to own a plunger. Getting off topic for the article at hand, but what's different in Australian plumbing in that area?

codeka 11y ago
https://youtu.be/ryIQYYogQ8A https://youtu.be/ryIQYYogQ8A I've literally never owned a plunger in my whole life, and I don't know anybody who does. It baffles me everything I'm in the US and every toilet has a plunger!
- matwood 11y ago
  Why wouldn't these be the default in all new construction everywhere? Are there downsides?
  - Rapzid 11y ago
    Not that I'm aware of. Lived in NZ for 5 years and just moved into a brand new construction in CA just a few months back. Terrible. I've had to plunge(technically I use the scrubber to generate the pressure) a few times already :( Also, the showers mostly all have baskets under the drain caps to capture hair and stuff now.
    - matwood 11y ago
      I searched Lowes website and could not find any toilets like this. There has to be some reason!
- crwll 11y ago
  I don't think any toilet built here in Finland since at least the 50's (some of those still exist, earlier I'm not sure of) have needed a plunger either, those things just work. The US plunger thing just baffles me. And banking too, sure.
knz 11y ago
I can only speak for New Zealand, but the whole disposal method is fundamentally different. Instead of relying upon the swirling/draining motion to dispose of the waste, water is forced straight down into the much larger gap. Every kiwi/aussie who has stayed with me (in multiple homes) has complained about US toilets!
- wsfull 11y ago
  You forgot to mention the option of half flush or full flush.
  - Wingman4l7 11y ago
    Some newer toilets in the US will have this, but it's not nearly as common as it is in AU. I figure it's because of differing attitudes on water conservation.
- dpark 11y ago
  > Instead of relying upon the swirling/draining motion to dispose of the waste It makes me sad and annoyed whenever I flush one of these toilets. The swirling doesn't do anything useful. It seems to actually increase the clogging probability because it typically manages to swirl 100% of the toilet paper together and then finally move it downward all at once for maximum clogging effect, which might be fine if the drain weren't ~2 inches across. There are American toilets that aren't like this, but a shocking number of them are completely unreliable. I had a toilet in my apartment in California that, no lie, I managed to clog by blowing my nose. I used 3 Kleenex, dropped them in the toilet, and flushed. It clogged from that.

op00to 11y ago

OK, explain the plunger comment please?

knz 11y ago
Nearly every home I have ever been into in the US owns a plunger due to poor performance of US toilets. Every kiwi who has stayed with me has had issues. I think the biggest proof of how useless they are is the fact that if you go to Home Depot and browse their toilets you will see the "flush performance" heavily featured in the marketing. As far as I can tell it's due to how the waste is disposed of (relying upon a draining/swirling motion rather than forcing water straight down) and the size of the outlet. I actually had the lower level of a house destroyed by a toilet that was blocked and overflowed. It just doesn't happen back in New Zealand!