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On the topic of toilets, is there an explanation for the continued lack of dual flush toilets in the US? It's been common in Europe for as long as I can remembe
by standardUser 2y ago
On the topic of toilets, is there an explanation for the continued lack of dual flush toilets in the US? It's been common in Europe for as long as I can remember and now Latin America seems to have lapped us.
Separately, but still related, I've been thrilled by the rapid adoption of bidets and rarely see a friend's bathroom that doesn't have one. What are the chances we start to get bidets in hotels and restaurants? What the hold up?
- _fs 2y ago> I've been thrilled by the rapid adoption of bidets and rarely see a friend's bathroom that doesn't have one You are living in a bubble.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- standardUser 2y agoI live in a big city. But I've seen them at friend's houses in lots of places in the US. You can order one on Amazon for like $40 and install it in about 30 minutes.
- phaedrus441 2y agoThis doesn't change the fact that bidets in the US are only in a vanishingly small percentage of homes. As an example, while not at all scientific, open up Zillow or Redfin and look at any random property and see if there's a bidet.
- rcmjr 2y agoYeah dude sorry but I agree with the other guy. You are living in a bubble if you think bidet adoption is high in the US.
- LargoLasskhyfv 2y agoThere are clean and shiny bubbles, and there are dirty, stinking ones. They don't mix well, dirty always stains the shiny.
- teaearlgraycold 2y agoIt’s strange. I’ve only seen one restaurant in the US that had a bidet.
- RajT88 2y agoSame. In San Francisco. Make of that what you will.
- teaearlgraycold 2y agoSan Diego for me.
- underseacables 2y agoI have never seen a public bidet anywhere in America, and I've traveled quite a bit. Are they more popular in certain areas?
- joeblubaugh 2y agoWe installed several dual-flush, including an aftermarket kit, at our place. I haven’t seen them at the hardware stores yet. IME the home ones can be finicky in terms of reliably resetting and fail more easily, but i still like the water savings.
- fsckboy 2y ago1. they are increasingly seen in the US, i see them all the time 2. if where you live does not have a "water cycle shortage", it's really not necessary. North America is huge and nowhere near as densely populated as Europe or Japan. when I visited Hong Kong a loooong time ago, we were told that the water system for the toilets used salt/ocean water. Hong Kong is a small island, that was driven by their need. if you don't need it, you don't need it. rapid adoption of bidets might increase public health/comfort by some measures, but it actually also increases water use. I feel you are influenced as much by familiarity/fashion as by a coherent water usage strategy
- standardUser 2y agoBidets can actually reduce water usage overall, depending on how much less toilet paper is used. Then of course there's the benefit of needing fewer materials to produce toilet paper.
- fsckboy 2y agoi always assumed you wiped first, then cleaned up with with the bidet. you're telling me you're spraying and rubbing with your fingers... i don't want to talk about it any more
- Volundr 2y agoJust spraying. Mine has a drier even. It's not so good I forgo a TP check, definitely drastically reduces use.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 2y agoRubbing with your fingers? Uh no. Finish your business, spray, wipe with TP. One additional step which makes the TP mostly perfunctory.
- SAI_Peregrinus 2y agoYou spray. Everything is removed, leaving just water. Then you wipe with toilet paper or a washable towel.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- conductr 2y agoI have 4 dual flushes that get fully flushed each use. The low flow option doesn’t even move enough water to clear the bowl of a single bladder full of urine. That is to say, it doesn’t flush. So we don’t like them. I also heard women tend to really dislike them, something about the flush mechanism is gross. Pushing a button I suppose.
- standardUser 2y agoThis must be part of the problem. People complain about them here (in the US) all the time. I'm wondering if we're not producing crappy dual flush toilets in this country compared to overseas where they've presumably be manufacturing them for a generation or so.
- ikr678 2y agoDual flush doesnt work as well with US sized bowls. You need the entire toilet fitting to be designed for it, not just retrofit the cistern.
- Izkata 2y agoThis was the same problem low-flow had in the 90s or early 2000s (so common it even made a full episode of King of the Hill), they didn't redesign the bowls very well to handle it.
- soco 2y agoSo you mean, US women rather won't flush? How's that less gross? Or I'm misreading you?
- conductr 2y agoI don’t know if they refuse flushing but they don’t want them in their house is what I’ve found out. I put them in our house without consulting my wife and apparently everyone we’ve discussed it with is of the opinion of “eww gross, why would you do that”. It’s usually a funny story to tell if we get asked about our house and building process, almost without fail a man will see it as no big deal “efficiency good” and women don’t like it “buttons gross” I imagine they may use a piece of paper to avoid pushing the buttons directly.
- jerlam 2y agoSome four star hotels in Hawaii have bidets in their rooms, possibly for the Japanese tourists. I can't find a word of it on the US website though.
- al_borland 2y agoI've seen some dual flush toilets in the US, though rare. My dad has one, and I don't think he went out of his way. My assumption is that the lack of awareness would be part of the reason for public toilets to not use them. It's often not clear which button to use, so people just push one at random. We have a hard enough time getting people to flush at all, so adding decisions into the mix doesn't great. In men's bathrooms, the assumption is probably that a urinal will be used for #1, so it's a safe bet that the stalls are mostly used for #2 (at least by design of the overall bathroom). With this in mind, having a dual flush seems like an unnecessary extra cost.
- Izkata 2y ago> My assumption is that the lack of awareness would be part of the reason for public toilets to not use them. It's often not clear which button to use Instead of having two buttons, there are designs that do the smaller flush by lifting the handle instead of pushing it down. That way people who don't know about it always get a full flush and the people that do can use the smaller one.
- al_borland 2y agoHow would anyone ever know about the pull up action? If push down always works, and pull up sometimes works, wouldn't everyone just push down?
- m463 2y agoI expect people don't replace their toilet unless it fails. Alternatively some code or law has to to come into play to force replacement. Also, a lot of toilets now look normal but are dual-flush - you just have to hold the handle for a longer flush.