How To Flush A Toilet Without Running Water
If you need to flush a toilet while the running water is off at home, here’s how to do it.
Flushing your toilet does require water. So, you’re going to need water storage before the crisis, or, find it somewhere. Read on for several tips where to find water for toilet flushing – one of which should be pretty common in many areas.
>> Emergency Water Storage For Your Tub
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I’ll explain where to find a water supply, how much water you’ll need to flush, and how to do it without running water in your home.
How To Flush Toilet With No Water Pressure
Under temporary water outage conditions, you can easily flush your own toilet.
You will still need water, but you don’t need running water from the pipes in your own house plumbing.
Get Some Water To Flush The Toilet
>>> Use Pool Water To Flush A Toilet Without Running Water!
Is there a back yard swimming pool nearby? You might be surprised to know that there is at least one swimming pool for every 10 households in America. There may or may not be one near you, but there certainly might! Bring over some buckets or water containers and ask if you can have some water.
>> Nearby Water Sources — Pond, Creek, Stream, Lake
You should know your own area. Get in your car and drive to any water source. Submerge container and fill ‘er up.
>> Your neighbor might be out too, but if not, well, ask!
How To Flush The Toilet
Remove the toilet tank reservoir lid. If you have already flushed the toilet after the running water stopped, the tank will be empty.
Using the container bucket(s) of water that you collected, fill the toilet tank up until the water almost reaches the top of the overflow tube as shown above.
Tip: Chances are that you won’t have to fill the toilet tank all the way to the top of the tube to get a flush. Experiment with less – enough to ‘get the job done’ (e.g. try 2/3 the way up to conserve water).
Then flush the toilet!
How Much Water To Flush A Toilet
Most modern efficient toilets only require about 1.5 – 2 gallons of water to flush the toilet effectively. Older toilets may require at least several gallons or more!
You’re going to need buckets. Water containers. Water weights about 8 pounds a gallon (just saying)!
Plus, if you drive down the road to get it (your neighbor’s pool down the street? Or the nearby lake?), it will slosh all over the place on the way back if the container doesn’t have a lid – or a purpose-designed water jug.
>> 7 Gallon Rigid Water Container
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This is one of the many important reasons why you should ALWAYS keep a supply of emergency water in your home. You can store water in purpose-made containers for long term storage, and use it as an emergency supply for drinking water or even for flushing your toilet.
For example, the container that I listed above (7 gallons) will get you 3 or 4 flushes, depending on the toilet.
This article has been updated since its original post, given the massive power outages across the country from the recent “polar vortex” extreme cold weather and ice storms (no running water in many places).
[ Read: Practical Portable Drinking Water Storage ]
[ Read: Water Barrel Storage For Emergencies ]
