Need water to flush a toilet; water shut off due to a leak.

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BigSteve29

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Biloxi, Mississippi
Last week I had to contact my city's water department to send someone out to the house to turn off my water at the street because a major water leak had developed under the house to the point water was leaking outside the house and also coming inside the house.

Now that the water has been shut off I cannot use the commode. Our plumber who we've used for more than twenty (20) years can't come out to check things out until next Thursday; August 13th.

In the meantime how can I flush the commode with no water coming into the house? Buy a lot of water and bring it inside the house to use to pour into the commode to flush it? My tank is a 1.6 gallon capacity tank which replaced an older 5 gallon capacity tank in 2006.

Would I need to pour water into the tank; fill up the tank or could I pour the water into the toilet's bowl? How much water would I need to flush with? At least 2 gallons? More than two gallons? Feedback would be appreciated.


BigSteve29
Biloxi, Mississippi


End of Message
08/09/20
 
Would a moderator chime in to let me know if I've posted my question in the wrong forum so I can post it in the correct one so I can get some feedback?

Big Steve29
Biloxi, Mississippi
08/09/20
 
Just get a five gallon bucket, fill it up 1/3 of the way, and pour water right into the bowl.

You might only need a gallon or so for a pee flush.

And you can let pee sit there, until you need to flush poop.

Can you run a garden house over from a neighbors’ house?

Get a kiddie wading pool and fill it with water from a neighbor, for flushing only.
Add a few capfulls of chlorine bleach.

Or put a good nozzle on the hose from next door, so they can leave their sillcock always turned on.
Make connections tight, no leaks.
 
Just get a five gallon bucket, fill it up 1/3 of the way, and pour water right into the bowl.

You might only need a gallon or so for a pee flush.

And you can let pee sit there, until you need to flush poop.

Can you run a garden house over from a neighbors’ house?

Get a kiddie wading pool and fill it with water from a neighbor, for flushing only.
Add a few capfulls of chlorine bleach.

Or put a good nozzle on the hose from next door, so they can leave their sillcock always turned on.
Make connections tight, no leaks.
Just get a five gallon bucket, fill it up 1/3 of the way, and pour water right into the bowl.

You might only need a gallon or so for a pee flush.

And you can let pee sit there, until you need to flush poop.

Can you run a garden house over from a neighbors’ house?

Get a kiddie wading pool and fill it with water from a neighbor, for flushing only.
Add a few capfulls of chlorine bleach.

Or put a good nozzle on the hose from next door, so they can leave their sillcock always turned on.
Make connections tight, no leaks.
I just took two (2) gallons of Walmart brand water at $0.88/gallon and poured one (1) gallon at a time into the bowl; not the tank and nothing happened.

I might try pouring the next two (2) gallons directly into the tank then flush to see if that'll work.

I watched a few videos on YouTube and the three (3) that I watched showed someone pouring about four (4) gallons which was in a five (5) gallon painter's bucket and that did work.

I wonder if the plumber could create a temporary new water line from the meter in my front yard and run that new line up to my front porch?

Install a faucet on the new water line separate from the old line which is leaking under the house?

I would at least have water to flush the commode. Would a city's plumbing department allow me to do that or not?

It's too bad the bathroom is not on the front of the house because if it was I could just run a garden hose from the new water line through the bathroom window and fill the commode that way.

Big Steve29
Biloxi, Mississippi
08/09/20
 
Pouring water from a water bottle is too slow.

You need to pour from a bucket, so it instantly fills the bowl.

Pouring water into the tank will work, but is more work, and you might break the tank lid fooling around with it.
 
About an hour ago I successfully poured 2.5 gallons of Walmart brand cheap water into the tank; one gallon at a time and after I finished I flushed it and that worked good.

You recommend the next time I do that pour 2.5 gallons of cheap water into a large plastic bucket and pour all of that into the tank or do I pour that into the toilet bowl?

Big Steve29
Biloxi, Mississippi
08/09/20
 
Whichever you want.
You will get a better bowl rinse by filling the tank.

Pouring into the bowl is easier.

But water is heavy, so if you can’t lift and rapidly pour two gallons from a bucket, just fill the tank.
 
The reason that you will need less water to flush if you fill the tank is because the jetting action of flushing the toilet is designed to start the siphoning action of the integral trap of the toilet. If you pour a bucket of water into the bowl, you are pouring it straight down, which only starts the siphoning if there is enough water being quickly poured.
 
So are you saying pour the water directly into the tank or pour it into the bowl? I poured 2.5 gallons into the tank yesterday and I was able to flush the commode.

Big Steve29
08/10/20
 
I'm in a similar situation, except it is just the one bathroom that has a leak. So, I have a few buckets that I rotate, filling them from the handheld shower (you can use a neighbor's garden hose, as suggested above). Use buckets with some sort of open spout, so it pours easily without a mess - avoid a "Homer" bucket which is just round all around the top, unless you add a spout attachment (which are usually a pain to deal with).

Fill the buckets only about 2/3 to 3/4 full, so they don't slosh out when you move them.

Take off the tank lid and store it away somewhere safe, just leave it open until you are back to normal.

After each flush, use the bucket to fill the tank to the water line stain. That's the amount you were previously flushing. You can experiment with using a drop less to save bucket refilling efforts. You can obviously fill it right before you flush instead, but... I have some small kids who can't do the refill, so they're stuck unless I refilled it first. You also need to consider when to optimally wash your hands, and how, by the way.

I found pouring into the bowl was hit or miss for getting it to flush, and usually used more water.

I found something like this works well, but preferably in the 5-6 gallon range: Libman 3 Gal. Household Bucket-256 - The Home Depot
 
Last edited:
I poured 2.5 gals. of Walmart brand water at $0.88 a gallon into the tank; not the bowl and that worked.

My tank inside says 1.6 gal. capacity. Why did it take 2.5 gals. of water to flush?

Yesterday morning I poured 2 gals. into the bowl; it did NOTHING but added to the stinking mess in the bowl.

Big Steve29
Biloxi, Mississippi
08/10/20
 
You don't have a 1.6 gallon "capacity." You have a 1.6 gallon per flush toilet. If 1.6 gallons don't fill the tank to the level of the overflow tube, then it is capable of holding more water, it just shouldn't do so under normal circumstances. It should fill to 1.6 gallons if the fill valve is set correctly, and the extra "capacity" is not used.

Some manufacturers provide leeway to use less water in the fill or more via float adjustment on the fill valve. Yours may have been raised, either accidentally or on purpose, to allow it to fill more. This can be done if the toilet tends to clog - which usually means you should fix the source in the waste line, but extra water is often a quick-and-dirty fix.
 

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