For the better part of this century,
toilets have been a relatively bland
and unchanging product. Sure, a
homeowner might prefer an elongated
bowl to a round bowl, or
choose "peach" instead of white, but
the basic design of the bowl and
tank, and the hardware inside,
remained the same.
Up until 1975, when pressurizedtank
fixtures were introduced, virtually
all residential toilets used gravity
and five or six gallons of fresh water
to rinse the bowl clean and carry the
waste down the drain line. Since ball
cocks, valves, and other components
were standardized, maintenance
requirements were more or less the
same regardless of the make. So
builders and plumbers usually chose
toilets on the basis of price and
appearance alone.
Reinventing