Product Review - HydroRight Dual-Flush Toilet Conversion Kit

As a part of my recent interest in conserving water in the midst of California's worse drought ever, I decided to install dual-flush conversion kits on our toilets.  There are at least 4 different brands of dual-flush conversion kits on the market, but I went with the MJSI HydroRight HYR460.  This kit is actually two products in one, the HydroRight HYR271 dual-flush converter and HydroClean HC660 toilet fill valve.  In addition to being sold on Amazon, you can buy these kits locally at Home Depot and Lowes.  There are at least 3 versions of these kits, the difference being the flush actuator.  One has push buttons, the second has a a hanging flush level, and the third has a standard looking flush lever.

These dual-flush conversion kits are a class of products that I had no idea existed.  I assumed if you wanted a dual-flush toilet that you would have to buy an entirely new toilet.  In a typical home the toilet is the single largest use of water, so making your toilet more efficient goes a long way to saving water.  This kit saves water in 3 ways.

1. On average 4 out of 5 flushes are liquid/paper only - solids only account for 1 in 5 flushes.  The toilet does not require as much water to flush liquids, but with a standard toilet there is no way to account for this.  With this kit you can select small flushes for liquids and paper, and a large flush for solids.  The water savings here are obvious.  You can expect to save between 1 and 2 gallons of water each time you use a small flush in place of a large flush.
2. The second water savings is harder to explain.  Inside you toilet tank is a fill valve (a tall tower with a float attached to it).  The fill valve has two jobs; it refills the tank when the toilet is flushed, but it also refills the toilet bowl.  Think of it this way, when you flush the toilet all the water in the bowl goes down the drain, yet the next time you use the toilet there is already water in the bowl before you sit down.  That water got there because of the toilet fill valve.  The problem with standard fill valves is the tank takes a lot longer to fill with water than does the bowl.  Once the bowl is full, water keeps flowing into the bowl until the tank is completely full.  But the bowl can only hold so much water, so all the excess water literally flows over the trap and down the drain.  Because you can't see this water going down the drain, very few people know this even happens.  And we're not talking about a small amount of water either.  I recently measured a real toilet and it was wasting just shy of half a gallon of water per flush.
3. The final way this kit helps to save water is by fixing leaks.  On average leaks account for 15% of all water use inside a home, and the toilet is going to be the single largest source of these leaks.  This kit replaces all the parts inside a toilet that typically leak so it should prevent further leaking.

In case you can't tell, I'm a big fan of this dual-flush kit.  The water-saving potential is very high.  I wish I could recommend everyone install these on their toilets... but I can't.  There are just some issues that keep me from blindly recommending it for everyone.  Allow me to explain.

First, you need to know this kit won't fit all toilets.  If your toilet tank has a 3" opening into the toilet bowl this won't work.  Also, if you're existing overflow tube inside the tank is shorter than 6", it won't work.  Now the good news is 99% of all toilets do meet these requirements.

Beyond that, there are issues with the installation.  Here is a picture of the kit installed on one of my toilets.  This single picture shows most of the issues with this kit.

1. The first issue is space.  I have 1.6 gallon low-flow toilets, which means the tank is smaller.  As you can see the blue fill tower (left) is very close to the actuator button and not far from the overflow tube (middle).  This makes putting your hands down into the tank for installation difficult.
2. The flush button is blocked by the toilet lid when the lid is raised.  So if you're sitting on the toilet and need to flush then you must lean forward to move the lid to be able to flush.  Again this is because our toilet tank is a smaller low-flow tank.
3. When raised the toilet lid comes to rest on the flush button and not the porcelain of the tank itself.  Since the button is plastic my prediction is in a few years of kids raising the toilet lid that the button will break.  Fortunately you can buy just a replacement button, but still.  Again, this is because we have a low-flow tank that causes this.
4. It's hard to see in the picture, but the water level is at the very top of the overflow tub (middle).  I had to adjust the water level as high as it would go, plus adjust the small flush as large is it would go just to get liquid-only flushes to work.  And even then, sometimes liquid flushes don't properly flush.  Solid flush always works, but sometimes the liquid flush doesn't properly swirl the water and go down.  Yet again, this is caused by the smaller size of our low-flow tanks.  [Update: I eventually got the small flush to work 100% of the time, but I had to buy a new taller overflow tube at the hardware store, installation of which required the toilet tank to be removed.]
5. Adjusting the kit is not a simple process.  There are 5 separate adjustments that need to be made to the kit during installation; 1) the height of the fill valve, 2) the float level height, 3) the small flush size adjustment, 4) the full flush size adjustment, and 5) the amount of water send to the bowl from the fill valve.

Because of these issues, I cannot recommend this kit for everyone.  Here's what I would suggest.  If you currently have a low-flow toilet, buy just the HC660 toilet fill valve - that is unless you're determined to make the full kit work (I was and once it's working properly it's great).  If however you currently have non-low-flow toilets then buy the full kit.  Many of the problems I ran into were because I installed this kit onto low-flow toilets, so if you don't have low-flow toilets then you should definitely install the full kit.

You might be asking, how do I know if I have a low-flow toilet of not?  There are several easy ways to tell.  First, just look at the toilet.  If the tank is about the same width as the toilet seat then chances are it's a low-flow toilet.  If the tank is noticeably wider than the seat, then most likely you have an older non-low-flow toilet.  You can also look inside the toilet tank.  There's a good chance the size of the toilet is stamped in the porcelain inside.  If it says something like "1.6gallon" then that's a low-flow toilet.  Lastly, look for a date stamped in the porcelain inside the toilet tank.  If your toilet is dated 1994 or newer then it must be a low-flow, but if it's older than 1994 then chances are it's not a low-flow.

Finally I wanted to give a few tips on the installation of this kit should you decide to install it.

1. The dual-flush base is held in place with a zip-tie.  I read a review online that said his zip-tie broke after several months.  And I can see why, the included zip-tie is thin and flimsy.  Before installing this kit do what I did, cut this zip-tie off and replace it with a new larger zip-tie.  I used the largest zip-tie I could find that fit through the holes.
2. The aforementioned dual-flush base is installed by pushing it down onto the overflow tube.  When tightening the zip-tie, push down on the base harder than you think would be necessary.  The first time I installed this kit that seal was leaking so I had to remove everything and start over.
3. The dual-flush unit has two adjustment levers, blue for the liquid flush and green for the solid flush.  If your toilet is a low-flow toilet then push both of these adjustment levers all the way down before installing the unit.  If your toilet is not a low-flow toilet, then push both adjustment levers to the top or near the top.  After installing the entire kit you'll need to adjust these some more to fine tune the kit for your specific toilet.  But these are good starting points depending on what type of toilet you have.

Although this dual-flush kit is not perfect, once the kit is installed and properly configured it's great!  Not only are we saving a ton of water, but toilets are actually flushing better than before.  Before installing the kit our toilets would clog on average 3 or 4 times a month.  In the 2 months since installation our toilets have not clogged once.  I think this is because of how the dual-flush kit works.  How well a toilet flushes is dictated by two main factors; the amount of water and how fast that water is delivered.  This kit delivers the same or less water as before, but I believe the design delivers the water quicker.  Older flappers are hinged so when they raise up water can rush into the opening from 3 of the 4 sides.  But the dual-flush kit uses a valve that raises straight up which means when the toilet is flushed water can rush in from 360 degrees around the opening.  It's this faster delivery of water is why I believe our toilets flush better.

Well there you go.  My review of the HydroRight dual-flush toilet conversion kit.  A great product that saves a lot of water and money, but may require patience when installing and adjusting.

Product Review - High Sierra Shower Head

As a part of my recent interest in conserving water in the midst of California's worse drought ever, I decided to install low-flow shower heads.  I think when a lot of people hear the phrase "low-flow shower head" they cringe.  But they shouldn't technology has come a long way.  First, a little history.

In 1992 the US government mandated that all new shower heads can release at most 2.5 gallons per minute (GPM) of water.  Before that, shower heads might release as much as 5 GPM.  Since then, 99% of all shower heads sold in the US are 2.5 GPM shower heads.  Anything less than 2.5 GPM (even 2.4 GPM) is considered to be a low-flow shower head.  As a result the term "low-flow" when applied to shower heads can be very ambiguous.  Unless you specifically bought a low-flow shower head, your current shower head is most likely a 2.5 GPM design.

But there is a reason why people hate low-flow shower heads - prior bad experiences.  In the mid 90s many shower head manufacturers started releasing low-flow shower heads in the 1 - 2 GPM range.  But all they did was take their existing 2.5 GPM shower head designs and put a flow restrictor in them to reduce the amount of water.  The problem is, a shower head designed for a certain flow and pressure does not operate well at lower flow and pressure.  So people who tried these shower heads got turned off to low-flow shower heads.  The good news is, shower head technology has come a long way since them.  Most manufacturers have gone back to the drawing boards and created new shower heads designed to operate at lower flow rates.  After reading online reviews of many of these shower heads I decided to purchase a High Sierra 1.5 GPM shower head.  This is my review of that shower head.

In short, this shower head is awesome and everyone should consider installing them today!  Yes, this shower head is no looker, but what it lacks in style it more than makes up for in performance and quality!  When I first installed 2 of these shower heads in our house, we were amazed because it was giving us a better shower than our previous 2.5 GPM shower heads.  The water pressure felt higher and it was an overall better shower.  I actually had to check water flow to make sure, our previous shower head was delivering 2.3 GPM and the new shower head was delivering 1.5 GPM.  [Side note: there are two reasons the old shower head was slightly below the rated 2.5 GPM; 1) many of the shower head holes were plugged and 2) when I removed the old shower head there was a piece of plastic in the shower head arm that was partially blocking the flow.]  So the High Sierra shower head saves 1 gallon of water per minute and still delivers a great shower.  This makes the math easy.  If you take a 10 minute shower then you'll save 10 gallons of water.  Multiply that by 365 days in a year and the number of people in your house and you can see the savings quickly add up to some huge numbers!



There are dozens of low-flow shower heads out there, but the High Sierra shower head is different than all of them, and it's those differences are what make this shower head shine.  Most shower heads deliver a shower of water by having dozens or hundreds of small holes through which the water is forced.  But these tiny holes become plugged with debris, mineral deposits, and mold.  The High Sierra shower head is different, it has a single large opening which can't plug, but still spays out the water in a very satisfying spray.  Another great benefit is the construction.  Most shower heads are plastic or thin stamped metal, some even contain moving parts.  The High Sierra shower head on the other hand is machined out of a single block of metal.  Even though it's small in size it is heavier than most shower heads.  You can tell this shower head is quality and will last a long time.

Did you know that all shower heads sold in the US are made in China or Taiwan?  All except the High Sierra shower head.  This product is machined and assembled completely in California - in fact as the name implies it's from the foothills of the Sierra-Nevada mountain range.

Installing a new shower head is so easy that anyone can do it - it's literally a 3 step process.

1. Unscrew the old shower head.  You might need to use pliers if it's tight.  Clean the shower head arm threads to remove any debris that might be on them.
2. Add about 6 wraps of teflon tape around the shower head arm threads in a clockwise direction.  This step is optional, but recommended as it helps to ensure no leaks.  Teflon tape is cheap, about $1 at any hardware store.
3. Hand screw the new shower head into place.  You don't need to use pliers to attach the new shower head, hand-tight is sufficient.

Even though I love this product, there are two things that keep it from being an absolutely perfect product.  The shower head is slightly louder than our previous shower head.  I would by no means describe the shower head as "noisy."  Just that it makes a little more noise than our previous shower head.  The second issue is if you install the shower head onto a tub/shower combo, depending on how your tub faucet and shower head are plumbed the shower head might make a slight whistling noise when filling the bath tub.  As the water passes through the tub faucet it pulls air through the shower head pipe which causes a whistling noise in the shower head.  This process would affect all shower heads, but given the single-orifice design of the High Sierra is what causes it to whistle.  The noise is slight, and it only happens during bath tub filling.


If you consider purchasing a High Sierra shower head, they make two flow levels; 1.5 GPM and 1.8 GPM.  Some people might be tempted to get the 1.8 GPM since it's closer to the 2.5 GPM they currently have.  But I would discourage this.  My parents installed a 1.8 GPM in their house and the difference between the two is almost unnoticeable, in fact if anything the 1.8 GPM delivers too much water and the pressure might be too high (causing a slight pins and needles feeling).  I would only recommend the 1.8 GPM in two circumstances.  First if your house has very low water pressure (45 PSI or lower) or if your shower head is really high up, like beyond your reach high, like 8' - 10' in the air high.

If you decide to buy a High Sierra shower head and you order directly from the manufacturer, try the coupon code "WATER"  This code allowed me to save 10%.  Of course I can't guaranty this code will still work in the future, but it's worth a try.

California's Water - Detecting and fixing leaks

In this ongoing series on water use and the drought in California, I wanted to next talk about detecting and fixing water leaks inside your home.  Last time I talked about water usage inside the home and how leaks are one of the largest "uses" of water in a typical home.  Now this is a typical or average home.  Many homes won't have any leaks, some will leak a lot - but an average home approximately 15% of all water use inside the house is wasted through leaks.  In this post I want to show how easy it is to locate and detect these leaks as well as fix them.

First step to detecting and fixing leaks is very easy and very obvious.  Simply walk around your house (inside and out) and look at every faucet, shower head, water fixture, etc. looking for a leak.  If it's leaking, make sure the knob was in the off position.  If the leak does not stop, if you have to tighten the knob with a lot of force to get it to stop, or if the leak resumes later on then chances are you need to replace the seals.  Almost all faucets and fixtures in the house use rubber seals, O-rings, and gaskets to create a water-tight seal.  But these rubber pieces don't last forever.  In time they crack and become brittle and hard causing them to not seal completely.  There is great news however.  You can buy new replacement rubber parts for cheap and easily install them.  Most major hardware stores have a section dedicated to rubber parts like these, and they usually only cost a few bucks.  Here's how to repair simple leaks like this:

1. Turn off the nearest water supply valve.  If the bathroom sink is leaking, under the sink are two shutoff valves (hot and cold).  If there is no shutoff valve, or if the shutdown valve itself is the part that is leaking, you'll have to shutoff water to the entire house.  This can be done outside where the water comes into your house.
2. Use tools (usually a wrench and/or screw driver) to disassemble the leaking part.  Fixtures are designed to be taken apart and have their rubber parts serviced, so if this step seems difficult then stop and use Google and/or youtube to search for your particular job.
3. Once you've removed the old rubber parts, take them to your local hardware store and find the identical replacement part.
4. Install the new, turn on the water and check for leaks.

Most hardware stores also sell large packages with dozens or hundreds of random sized rubber seals.  You can always buy a package like this (again, only a few bucks) and most likely have the part on hand thus saving you a trip to the hardware store while water is turned off.

After checking all the easy fixtures like faucets and shower heads, time to check the toilets.  Toilets are probably the largest source of leaks in the house, and therefore important to check them for leaks.  They leak so much water for several reasons.  First, if a leak develops people rarely realize because the leaked water is not visible.  If does not end up on the floor, or seen dripping from a faucet.  Instead it silently leaks into the sewer line.  Secondly, toilets are considered "gross" by most people, they don't want to touch them, so unless there is an obvious problem they will leave them alone.  Finally, a lot of people don't really know how a toilet works so they don't even know how to check a toilet for leaks.

Checking a toilet for leaks is fairly simple.  Only check a toilet that hasn't been flushed in hours, that way you don't misdiagnose a leak.  Start off by using a flashlight and shining a light on the water in the toilet bowl.  Get down on your hands and knees to look closely at the water.  If the water is perfectly smooth that's good, but if you see ripples on the water, especially at the edge where the water meets the porcelain then you probably have a leak.  The next check involves lifting the lid on the toilet tank.  Don't bother looking inside the toilet for leaks, often times the air in the top of the tank is so moist that water condenses and forms drops that may appear to be a leak.  Instead, get your ear close to the water fill tower (usually on the left-side of the tank) and carefully listen for water.  If you hear water then you most likely have a leak.  But probably the easiest check is to put dye tablets (or food coloring) into the toilet tank.  Check the toilet several hours later and see if the color appeared down in the bowl.  Fixing a toilet leak is as easy as a faucet.  Turn off the water, remove the rubber parts that are leaking, and replace with new parts from the hardware store.  Or better yet, buy the dual-flush conversion kit and replace all the rubber seals at the same time.

But what if you have a leak elsewhere?  What about pipes underground or in the walls, leaks in your appliances like dish washer, or irrigation system.  How do you check these for leaks?  Turns out there's a simple way to check for leaks - use your water meter.  This method will tell you if there is a leak anywhere in your house and give you an indication how large the leak is, but it won't tell you what is leaking.  So it will either give you piece of mind, or let you know you need to keep looking.

First, locate your house water meter.  Usually the water meter is located out front your house where your property connects to the municipal water supply, but it can be closer where the water enters the house, or even inside your garage or basement.  Here is a picture of my actual water meter.

Every water meter will be different, but most meters have 3 parts to them.  The first is a small triangle or star (I've highlighted mine in green), which is the low-flow or trickle indicator.  The second part is the needle which sweeps the entire gauge.  Lastly is the "odometer" reading in numbers.  The way a water meters works is the flow of water turns the low-flow triangle.  After X number of turns of the low-flow indicator, the needle will make one complete revolution around the dial.  For each revolution the odometer reading will advance a single digit.  My water meter measure cubic feet of water, but yours could measures gallons, or even something else like liters.

The important part here is the low-flow indicator, the rest you can ignore.  The low-flow indicator, as the name implies, is very sensitive to even small amounts of water flow.  Try it, watch your meter and turn on the garden hose.  That triangle will spin pretty fast.  To check for leaks using the low-flow indicator, first make sure no one in the house is using water.  Make sure no one will turn on the sink, flush a toilet, etc.  Also, make sure there's no laundry going, the ice maker won't turn on, etc.  Basically, all water use needs to stop during the duration of the test.  Look at the position of the triangle, then wait 5, 10, 20 minutes - the longer you wait the better.  After waiting look at the triangle again.  If the triangle moved then you have a leak.  How much it moves is also an indicator of the size of the leak.