Drain Problem (waste escaping outside): 'Eco' Toilet to blame?

[PlumbingProblem]

Hello

I am newbie, would very much appreciate any advice here. This has been a complex issue for me but I hope someone with a bit more knowledge could advise, please?

• When I moved house, had the upstairs bathroom suite replaced inc. a new toilet with a small cistern that only fills/empties half-way.
• Things OK-ish for a year but I felt that there was some drain issue developing: sometimes washing machine wouldn't empty, faint odour outside
• So...I had the outside drains pressure-jetted: then the problems really started! One morning found toilet contents (paper etc.) coming out of open grating outside. Looked inside trap (outside house): looks like all previous toilet paper had accumulated in there. Ugh.
• My theory is this (pls could someone confirm or correct this): new 'eco' toilet flush volume was not sufficient to shove toilet material all the way out of house and into council drain. Instead, paper was accumulating in trap outside. When system was pressure-jetted, I wonder if this just created a new, easier way out of the system (i.e. via the open grating) instead of just accumulating further in the trap.
• Have had camera surveys by private companies and water authority: they say system is now clear. (Water authority cleared their drain all the way down the road to make sure).
• Does any of that make any sense? If so, is what I need a greater flush volume i.e. adjust existing toilet or get a toilet with a bigger cistern. I hope this is the answer: I can't think of anything else!

Thanks for reading.

 

[Whl4852]

I take it your foul and storm are combined?

 

[PlumbBobBob]

you could adjust the fill valve so there is more water in the cistern. if you put a picture up of your cistern we will be able to help you adjust it. oh and welcome to the forums.

 

[stevetheplumber]

ecotoilets are as much use as eco light bulbs were going back to the middle ages dark houses and lots of crap all in the name of global warming which there now seems to be some doubt of its existence even if you rename it climate change it still isnt happening

 

[plumb_know]

Bit confusing about a trap? Take it you mean the trap on your gully where your kitchen waste water goes into is backing up?? When you had drains jetted did they also jet this line? Because if they didn't then it could be waste left from previous blockage and has not been cleared. Also I suggest adjusting water level in toilet cistern and what toilet tissue are you using as the triple quilted stuff doesn't break down easily and also these horrible wipes that say flushable block toilets as well, anything baby wipe material should not go down toilet even if it say flushable as it doesn't break down. Hope some of this may of helped and not confused you more ?? Let us know how you got on

 

[PlumbingProblem]

Hi

Thanks for the responses so far, much appreciated. Here are my replies to the questions above:

• Yes, foul and storm drains are combined
• I am attaching some pics of the toilet. Is it possible to adjust the valve and increase the flush volume? At the moment it just fills to the 6 litre level (halfway up the cistern). If I do increase the flush volume, will the system be able to cope i.e. could it end up attempting to flush 12 litres but spilling some of it on the floor?
• This is the first and last time I buy something eco!
• To clarify what I meant about the 'trap': outside the house, if I lift a paving slab, there is a pit approx. half the size of a bathtub. This was full of toilet paper. Digging past it all, there is a small hatch. Lifting this gives access to the drain which runs from my house to the council drain. Yes, this line was also jetted and camera surveyed: it looks clear now. As per original post, I think that new toilet doesn't give enough of a shove to get paper etc into the council drain so it pushed up past the hatch and accumulated in this 'trap'. Once the system was jetted clear, it was easier for the toilet waste to escape via the newly-cleared grating hence the new problem (All that is my theory anyway.) Yes, have used luxury toilet paper, 'flushable' wipes and ordinary stuff. Looking into the trap, it's hard to estimate if any of this paper was from the previous owner or all my own (i.e. caused by me having new 'eco' toilet installed)!

 

[PlumbingProblem]

And here the pics. If anyone needs any other pics to solve this, please let me know.

In case it isn't clear, the 2nd pic is of the inside of the cistern lid. Pics 3 and 4 are contents of cistern, showing water fill to 6 litre mark (half full)


View attachment 10146

 

[PlumbBobBob]

in the third picture, on the end of the white arm there is a screw which you can adjust with a screwdriver. i'm not too sure which way you need to turn it to raise the float. aftre adjusting the fill valve you may find that the water overflows, in which case you can adjust the height of the overflow. can you see the piece sticking out which looks like an oval hole, this slides over so the overflow can be lengthened.

 

[Whn1]

A six litre flush is pretty standard. Some siphons won't let anymore through

 

[PlumbingProblem]

in the third picture, on the end of the white arm there is a screw which you can adjust with a screwdriver. i'm not too sure which way you need to turn it to raise the float. aftre adjusting the fill valve you may find that the water overflows, in which case you can adjust the height of the overflow. can you see the piece sticking out which looks like an oval hole, this slides over so the overflow can be lengthened.

Thanks. I'll give this a go.

• Screw: I see it. I guess that when I start adjusting, I should do this gradually just to make sure system can take the larger volume? If I do increase the volume in the cistern, the objects you see in the photo are going to be under the water level. Is that going to be OK?
• Float: I see this also. I can move this up/down fine.

 

[leethegasman]

Hello

I am newbie, would very much appreciate any advice here. This has been a complex issue for me but I hope someone with a bit more knowledge could advise, please?

• When I moved house, had the upstairs bathroom suite replaced inc. a new toilet with a small cistern that only fills/empties half-way.
• Things OK-ish for a year but I felt that there was some drain issue developing: sometimes washing machine wouldn't empty, faint odour outside
• So...I had the outside drains pressure-jetted: then the problems really started! One morning found toilet contents (paper etc.) coming out of open grating outside. Looked inside trap (outside house): looks like all previous toilet paper had accumulated in there. Ugh.
• My theory is this (pls could someone confirm or correct this): new 'eco' toilet flush volume was not sufficient to shove toilet material all the way out of house and into council drain. Instead, paper was accumulating in trap outside. When system was pressure-jetted, I wonder if this just created a new, easier way out of the system (i.e. via the open grating) instead of just accumulating further in the trap.
• Have had camera surveys by private companies and water authority: they say system is now clear. (Water authority cleared their drain all the way down the road to make sure).
• Does any of that make any sense? If so, is what I need a greater flush volume i.e. adjust existing toilet or get a toilet with a bigger cistern. I hope this is the answer: I can't think of anything else!

Thanks for reading.

you say the cistern only emtys half way when flushed it looks you have a fuidmaster fitted which should have ajustable flush volumes should empty more than half way if req.

 

[PlumbingProblem]

Hello again

Just to update you all, based on the all useful advice received:

- Float: if I push down on it, I can get the cistern to fill up further than the 6 litre mark. I have also tried adjusting the screw so it fills higher than 6 litres each time but haven't managed to make that work yet. Will keep at it. If I go much further than 6 litres the whole flush mechanism that you can see in the pics above gets submerged. Is that OK?
- Overflow: this can be adjusted up/down OK

One question: if I keep the volume at 6 litres but flush the toilet (say) 3, 4 times after each use, will this basically have the same effect? Or does really need a bigger flush volume to make sure stuff gets broken up a bit on its way to the council drains?

Thanks again

 

[PlumbBobBob]

another option would be to hold the flush button down until all the water has flushed