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assimpleaspossi 4 hours ago

I've always wondered about regular toilets and now this. Someone has to test it. I'm sure they have equivalent items to run through them but, eventually, you have to try the real thing so whose job is it to do that and how do they do that?

cryzinger 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

One popular "equivalent" for flush testing is a condom full of soybean paste (yum!)

https://slate.com/technology/2025/02/toilets-low-flow-trump-...

trollbridge 3 hours ago | parent [-]

I had a major plumbing problem once, in a rented commercial space. The toilet simply clogged constantly and I had to snake it almost every time. The landlord finally relented and had an expert plumber come out.

The guy apparently had a master's degree in plumbing somehow (I thought he was joking but he had indeed put himself all the way into a master's level engineering degree, mostly as a hobby). He first got out his scope and confirmed there was zero blockage in the sewer pipe and the septic tank itself. All good.

Then he started simulating flushing a load: wads of toilet paper, measured by number of squares. 17 squares went down just fine, but then he did 25, which he said is the max he expects a toilet to do. Instantly clogged.

He then told the landlord to stop buying $90 toilets and that he'd just advised a nursing home that had bought a bunch of the exact same model to rip them out and put in a better, $150 model.

So yeah, that's how you test it.

fiftyacorn 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

My degree is chemical engineering and thats pretty close to a degree in plumbing

cobalt 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

this feels like a chute diameter issue, many older (cheaper?) ones are 2in, but high flow are 3in I believe

kotaKat 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Welcome to the world of Maximum Peformance (or MAP) testing. 22 municipalities and associations came together across the US and Canada to form a consortium to develop a 'standard' test (and test media) and test toilets to determine who flushes feces the fullest.

https://map-testing.com/background/

(And really thorough history! https://map-testing.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Backgroun...)

Apparently, a "MaP Premium" toilet is going to be the golden shitter.