Chamber pots were in common use in Europe from ancient times, even being taken to the Middle East by medieval pilgrims. After flushing, the flapper valve in the water tank closes or the flush valve shuts; water lines and valves connected to the water supply refill the toilet tank and bowl.

Other very early toilets that used flowing water to remove the waste are found at Skara Brae in Orkney, Scotland, which was occupied from about 3100 BC until 2500 BC. The top of the curving tube limits the height of the water in the bowl before it flows down the drain. They may use very little water (less than a quarter of a liter per flush) [10] or none, [11] (as in waterless urinals). Overflowing of the water mixed with excrement may then occur, depending on the bowl volume, tank capacity and severity of clogging.Usually the quantity of water is marked on the cistern and depending on the performance of the bowl a dual flush can be achieved e. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, these communal toilet systems fell into disuse in Western Europe, though continued in the Eastern Byzantine Roman Empire, with records of toilet pipes being renewed, and sewers repaired.

This means that the posture for defecation and for female urination is to place one foot on each side of the toilet drain or hole and to squat over it. In recent decades the close coupled tank/bowl combination has become the most popular residential system, as it has been found by ceramic engineers that improved waterway design is a more effective way to enhance the bowl's flushing action than high tank mounting.Water flows through the perforated disc past the flap until the cistern is empty, at which point air enters the siphon and the flush stops. A vacuum toilet is a flush toilet that is connected to a vacuum sewer system, and removes waste by suction. Whilst they save more water than they leak, regular maintenance or use of a non-leaking flush mechanism will maximise water savings. C. (1954), "Linguistic Class-Indicators in Present-Day English", Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, vol.

It should remove all waste with a single flush; it should not plug; it should not harbor any odor; it should be easy to keep clean. At the top of the toilet bowl is a rim with many angled drain holes that are fed from the tank, which fill, rinse, and induce swirling in the bowl when it is flushed.

The concentric float valve opens when the fluid level is low, allowing more fluid to enter [Figure 1]. Newer fill valves have a delayed action that will not start filling the tank/cistern until the flapper/drop valve has closed which saves some water.

The term "squat" refers only to the expected defecation posture and not any other aspects of toilet technology, such as whether it is water flushed or not. Such toilets did not flush in the modern sense, but had a continuous stream of running water to wash away waste. The toilet then gives its characteristic gurgle as the siphonic action ceases and no more water flows out of the toilet.This type of flush toilet has no cistern but is flushed manually with a few liters of a small bucket. In 2012, archaeologists found what is believed to be Southeast Asia's earliest latrine during the excavation of a neolithic village in the Rạch Núi archaeological site, southern Vietnam.