Does your SO flush the toilet?

[nkereina]

Again - fresh urine doesn't have much of an odor unless one is sick. If you've ever given a urine sample, you'll probably notice that it doesn't really smell that much. It's when the urine is in contact with the minerals in tap water that it releases ammonia.

Either way, it still smells when it's sitting in the toilet and that was my only point. No matter if it's fresh urine or urine mixed with toilet water.

And not to get too graphic, but in the mornings before I'm well hydrated, my urine will have an odor from vitamins, coffee, food, or just from being dehydrated. I'm not sick. I'd say everyone is probably different in that regard.

 

[FLCyndi]

TMI!!!

 

[DizBelle]

My DH and I are both civilized people in a civilized society. We both flush after every use.

 

[tvguy]

So I suppose no-one here has heard about "waterless" urinals? It's kind of complicated, but they basically don't flush. They contain a cartridge with a special fluid that keeps sewer gases from coming out from the trap.

They do get cleaned however. And basically fresh urine doesn't have much of an odor and won't unless it's mixed with tap water, which will release ammonia.

Our grocery store has those. They stink to high heaven.

 

[willowsnn3]

I do remember back in the late 70s drought in California there was a saying:

If it's yellow, let it mellow.

Saw this in a couple posts here but no one put the rest of it out there:

If it's yellow, let it mellow.
If it's brown, flush it down.

I rarely flush in the middle of the night either. Pipes are very loud at our house.

 

[bigbabyblues]

My husband and both boys (and myself) flush every time. Never occurred to me not to.

 

[Wendy31]

This thread made me think...

Does anyone else remember the thread about the "courtesy flush"?

 

[Andtototoo]

My father was a lazy, self-absorbed jerk who did as little as possible for himself, and even less to benefit others. So if a person does less than my father, then he or should is someone I don't want to know. And certainly someone I would never date, let alone marry.

My father always flushed. Enough said.

 

[ImDMous]

We are in the severe drought area and it's just wasteful to flush when you don't need to. If it's just liquid, it sits there and waits. The lids are always closed on our toilets so no fear of dropping anything in.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

Thanks to everyone for their responses! It felt good to vent.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Okay, since we've already gone way beyond appropriate limits here....

For those who don't flush, or have family that doesn't flush, how long does it sit there? Do you flush every other time? Once a day? Once in the morning/once at night? Not until someone uses the toilet for something worse?

And if it's women doing it, you are using TP, right? So does that just pile up in the toilet until it's time to flush?

I'm just totally amazed by this and so very curious! I NEVER knew flushing was optional!!! It certainly isn't in our household, but obviously it is for many people.

 

[mnrose]

When we followed the "if it's yellow, let it mellow" protocol, we would flush once per about every 12 hour period (twice a day) unless there was a BM...flush immediately then.

We were, at that time, on 50 gallons per person per day water rationing. That's pretty minimal! Our toilets were about 2 gallons per flush. We liked to shower, which even with a low flow head, was roughly 5-10 gallons per person. Washing clothes, dishes, cooking, and drinking took up the remainder. We also tried to keep a minimal amount of our landscape alive. Flushing every time meant we had to give up showering. I'd rather shower, TYVM.

We now live where there is relatively plenty of water, but the old water conservation habits die hard. We use roughly 8000 gallons per 30 day period, so that's about 275 per day, family of four. We could easily cut that back if we had to.

Fresh water is a precious commodity.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Okay, since we've already gone way beyond appropriate limits here....

For those who don't flush, or have family that doesn't flush, how long does it sit there? Do you flush every other time? Once a day? Once in the morning/once at night? Not until someone uses the toilet for something worse?

And if it's women doing it, you are using TP, right? So does that just pile up in the toilet until it's time to flush?

I'm just totally amazed by this and so very curious! I NEVER knew flushing was optional!!! It certainly isn't in our household, but obviously it is for many people.

My husband and I flush every time (unless it's the middle of the night in which case it's flushed first thing in the am), so even if the kids don't it's being done multiple times a day.

I can't be the only one with forgetful kids right? Sometimes they remember, sometimes they don't. They're eight... they have a lot going on in their little brains.

 

[bcla]

Our grocery store has those. They stink to high heaven.

I've never encountered one that smelled bad. Personally I thought it was better than a portable toilet. Some of those are nasty.

I have seen some pretty funky places to go in my travels. A lot of outhouses in national parks are interesting. Several are solar powered and are supposed to use fans to help control the odors along with some chemicals. I remember taking my mom once and all they had at one site was a "vault toilet" where it was literally a 10 ft drop from the toilet seat down to the pit. She refused to use it. They did have toilet seat covers, but I think she was freaked out about possibly falling in.

 

[PaulaSB12]

Instead of using potable water in toilets which is a waste, how about more new homes being built with grey water recycling where water from baths, showers are used to flush toilets.

http://greywateraction.org/contentabout-greywater-reuse/

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

My husband and I flush every time (unless it's the middle of the night in which case it's flushed first thing in the am), so even if the kids don't it's being done multiple times a day.

I can't be the only one with forgetful kids right? Sometimes they remember, sometimes they don't. They're eight... they have a lot going on in their little brains.

I guess I just never thought of it as something you "forget". It's just an automatic response so, no, my DS13 and DS15 have NEVER forgotten! After you wash your hands, you turn off the water. You brush your teeth, you rinse, spit, put the toothbrush in the holder. You put shampoo in your hair, you rinse it out. You go to the bathroom, you flush the toilet. There's just some things that are so ingrained that you just don't even think about it, so there's no room for forgetting. In our house, flushing is one of those things. But I'm learning that's not the case everywhere!

 

[mnrose]

Instead of using potable water in toilets which is a waste, how about more new homes being built with grey water recycling where water from baths, showers are used to flush toilets.

http://greywateraction.org/contentabout-greywater-reuse/

Yes! This should become the norm in homes where water is not in abundance....the desert, California, etc. It's just ridiculous that we use fresh, potable water for that!

When we lived in California, my DH worked at MCSA (sewer plant for most of Marin). They had an AMAZING landscape (tended by my husband) exclusively using water from the plant (after treatment). It sometimes weirded people out but was designed to show what was possible if you were creative. It was NOT harmful in the least to decorative landscaping, although not recommended for edible landscape. He had the greenest lawn in the middle of a bad drought, advertised with lots of signs that said "recycled water."

 

[mombrontrent]

I guess I just never thought of it as something you "forget". It's just an automatic response so, no, my DS13 and DS15 have NEVER forgotten! After you wash your hands, you turn off the water. You brush your teeth, you rinse, spit, put the toothbrush in the holder. You put shampoo in your hair, you rinse it out. You go to the bathroom, you flush the toilet. There's just some things that are so ingrained that you just don't even think about it, so there's no room for forgetting. In our house, flushing is one of those things. But I'm learning that's not the case everywhere!

I actually agree that to me it's just an automatic response. It's not something to remember or forget just like what I park my car it's an automatic response to put the car into park. I have three kids and honestly they never forget to flush. Sometimes they "forget" to brush their teeth, put their dirty clothes in the hamper, clean their room etc. but they always flush the toilet.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Well...No matter how many times I remind them, they do forget sometimes. Not every time, not every day... But apparently I'm doing something wrong.

 

[LetsTalkWDW]

Again - fresh urine doesn't have much of an odor unless one is sick.

I guess you don't like asparagus