How to Care for the Most Important Health Tool You Have

As Mammas we all want our families to be as healthy as possible. That is one of the most important parts of

our job. So what is the most important tool we have to accomplish that?

The toilet.

The (Lesser) Great White Throne!

Imagine having to handle- with your hands (using bowls, etc)- all the human waste from your family. Or having to go out to a smelly hole in the backyard every time nature called. Think of what life would be like if you suddenly didn't have a toilet :-P

The toilet has changed the world in important ways.

Prior to the mass introduction of flush toilets (invented in 1596 by Sir John Harington and improved into what we know as the toilet by Thomas Crapper, 1836-1910, and this is why it's called a "Crapper")  into our large cities, (late 1800's- very early 1900's) people had to use outhouses (holes dug in the ground with small buildings over them). So, an apartment building with 100 residents might have 4-8 outhouses in the backyard. These were occasionally emptied by special contractors, who were not always very diligent about sanitation, dumping the waste in the river, park, vacant lots, wherever. (It was still believed by the most prominent doctors and scientists that disease was spread by bad spells and spirits.)

If your neighbor had Scarlet Fever, and you shared the same outhouse (or the epidemic-rates of mice and rats ran from the outhouse to your apartment) you got Scarlet Fever. Can you imagine the effect this had on disease? If your neighbor had Measles, you didn't have a lot of choice but to have Measles. Typhoid? Thanks to the rodents, the entire block would get it.

Actually, a good part of the world still doesn't have toilets (also called  "water closets"). Here is an article discussing the effects that has.

An article from the World Health Organization on the same subject.

Here is a handy chart showing the decline of disease. Notice that all communicable diseases saw a sharp decline.

(Actually, along with toilets came clean water, trash trucks hauling refuse away, refrigeration, and other general improvements in hygiene. I believe the toilets were the biggy, but let's acknowledge these other advances, also).

That modest little "chair" is probably the single most important tool you have in your home to keep your family healthy!

Toilets come in "round" (the most common type), elongated, and "comfort height" (which is a handicapped toilet without an official ADA sticker on it.) And of course, nearly any color you can dream of, though white is far the most common and cheapest.

Other countries have squat toilets which you squat over to do your business. This is actually much better for your health since it shortens and widens the pelvis area, making it much easier to "go" and reduces constipation. In America, we can buy stools to elevate our feet and achieve a similar effect.

So How do I Care For My Toilet?

I'm glad you asked that!

First of all, they don't really need a lot of care, generally, to function right. The basic mechanism functions on its own with little- or no- maintenance. It uses simple levers and gravity. A rather brilliant design.

If your toilet runs constantly, take the top of the tank and flush it to see what is happening. In fact, even if your toilet is working great, go do this so you know what "normal" looks like.

• If the chain is getting caught on something, which is most likely the case, simply shorten the chain (don't worry about putting your hands in there. That's clean drinking water. It's what comes out the bottom that's contaminated). There is usually a clasp on the arm that goes up and down. Take the chain off that clasp and put it back on a few links down, like you are shortening a necklace. Test it to see if you got the length right. 
• If the chain is too short to let the little black, blue, or red flapper (rubber thingy that covers the hole in the bottom of the tank) completely close, lengthen it (see above, but in reverse). If the chain is at its longest and the flapper still can't close a paper clip can function as an additional link.
• If the flapper is broken and so not covering the hole, turn the water off the toilet (underneath there should be a knob on a flexible pipey thing, called a "flex pipe" or "water supply"), take the flapper out, and go to the nearest hardware store. Show the flapper to an employee and tell them "I need one of these." They'll help you find the right one (actually, there are only a few options, so it's not rocket science. Color doesn't matter. Match the size of the ball, disk, and holes that fasten it to the toilet). Then just snap the new one in place and turn the water back on. You will likely need to adjust the chain. 
• If you still hear water running, and you are sure its the toilet, call a plumber. The above, though, will fix 99.99% of toilet running.

If your toilet keeps getting clogged up, quit putting anything but poop, pee, and toilet paper in it. If you still have a problem, you may need a plumber to look at your lines. Tree roots and other obstructions can wreak havoc with your pipes.

A toilet uses 1-7 gallons per flush, with the average today being 1.6-2 ish. There are more efficient designs in the works that would only use 1 gallon. 

Now, what about sanitation? 

Flylady, the guru of curing CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) says to wipe down the outside of your toilet, and run the brush around the inside every day. This way you don't need to use harsh chemicals, just store the brush in a vase (or something equivalent) beside the toilet with some water and soap (dish soap, shampoo, body wash, doesn't matter. Soap is soap. Use that nasty shampoo that fried your hair). This will keep your Throne nice and pretty, as well as sanitary. Takes about 2 minutes a day.

If you haven't cleaned it for a while, it will get a nasty yellow build up in the bowl. Lower the water level by pushing the water down the "throat" of the toilet with your toilet brush until it's gone, or dump a gallon of water in it real fast. Then squirt a little toilet cleaner (acid) up under the rim and around the bowl, scrub with your brush, and wait a few minutes (up to about ten). Then scrub again and flush.

If repeated use of the acid cleaner doesn't get rid of the last of the nasties, lower the water level, put on rubber gloves, dip a pumice stone in the water, and scrub. Keep the pumice wet so it doesn't scratch the bowl. When the yuckies are all loosened, flush. 

Other than that, the toilet really needs very little care. It is completely non-porous and so doesn't hold germs. They simply wipe off. It is truly one of the greatest inventions of the modern era!

Now, doesn't that feel good? You are protecting your family from massive, deadly diseases and certain death by....wiping your Crapper down each day. Talk about a return on your time investment!

Have you ever looked in your toilet tank to see how it works? Let me know your thoughts on the Great White Throne.