Greetings from Taipei. This recent typhoon kicked our ass in an underhanded way:
once again the government has turned off all water to prevent the main system from leaking out grit and sand that has not settled at the main. ( happened during last typhoon). Our building has no water.
So I have a bathroom toilet that needs to be flushed, and we cant flush it.
Is there a trick that I can do to get this toilet to flush?
The big problem is no water… the back of the toilet is full of water… but you pull the handle nothing happens.
I seen suggestions of filling the toilet bowl with water fast with a bucket and it will flush… but I dont have access to water. I also think this will compound the problem.
All i have are a few bottled water for consumption. Any advice greatly appreciated.
if the water tank behind the toilet is filled, there is no reason why it couldn’t be flushed unless the chain or mechanism connecting the handle to valve at the bottom of the tank is severed. You can try to fix the chain or just stick your hand on there and lift the valve. the problem is it would be an onetime trick during a water stoppage.
the trick is to store water before hand and then do the bucket trick.
I pulled up the valve… nothing changed. Surprised me to. Nor is anything back there damaged. Seems like the water in the bowl and in the back are at a balance.
Having grown up in Taipei. It was normal back then to lose power for a day or even two. And normal to lose your water as well. That is why we always filled our bathtub full of water . Because it could be days before the water came back. And we cooked with our gas tank and prior to the storm landing, ate up all the ice cream in the fridge and cooked up the meats as there was not going to be power and the fridge is not going to stay cool.
Nowadays you guys complain when you lose power and water.
As someone said, a storm of this nature in Florida would be a major catastrophe. Houses would lose their rooftops, people would be without houses, not just water and power.
Hate to break it to you Tommy… but I think you’re getting old. [/quote]
Yeah I think so, sorry to be so base (and stop reading all you sensitive people) but I was at a restroom at the Vacaville Outlets last week and I had to let a log go.
Some young dudes came in and i overheard one say “dang it smells like an old folks home in here”.
So I guess I am OFFICIALLY an Old Fart !
Oh and ps. I am a year OLDER in a few more days !! Better older then dead !
Andrew’s case is still baffling though. Unless the building somehow shut off it’s waste water system for some reason, it’s odd that gravity couldn’t make flushing happen…
I suspect he had flushed once prior, before realizing, possibly in the evening when going to bed. And then only realizing there was no water during the subsequent flush in the morning… Even after flushing the tank will not be completely empty, there will still be an inch or two below the height of the valve, which might explain the comment of the tank still containing water.
If dta was to look at the tank now water is back on, he might notice the level is far higher?
Do the other people in the building have water?
If so, take your water bill and look up the meter’s number.
Go to the rooftop and find your meter. Next to it will be the valve.
Open it!
One of your neighbors might have turned them randomly during the water outage.
Make sure to close all the faucets in your apartment before going to the roof.
I think that happens in Florida because people live in fucking trailer parks. Anyway, I took a bike ride in Yilan this weekend in an aboriginal community. There are people living in plywood and sheetmetal thrown together shacks and many of those appear to have been demolished.
[quote=“gavmasterflash”]Just buy some water at the supermarket, dump it in the tank and viola! You can flush the fucking thing.
[/quote]
Downtownandrew
That would be wasting money. Just get a large water container or a bucket and go to the Water Station, those things on the side of the road that look like coin operated gas station pumps attached to big ass tanks. You get a lot of water for only 5 - 10 dollars. They filter the water or have mountain spring water but you should still boil it for drinking
Actually, unless you have a water filtration system, you should already be using water from those machines to put into your water boiler. That is, unless you can now drink the tap water in Taipei. You can’t do that here in the south.
Back to topic. If that tank in your bowl is over a certain level it will flush! The water will go down, or it will over flow your bowl and go all over your floor if there is a blockage which is unlikely.
I’m afraid that you don’t understand the simple dynamics of gravity. You toilet will flush whether or not they turned off the city water or stopped the sewage outlet. You just did not put enough water into your tank. Playing with that floaty thing will do nothing. That just tells the water to turn off at the appropriate level. youtu.be/a2VaSkmeaC0
