Learning & Downloads

The Toilet Reinvented

A toilet is a toilet - right? Not quite. 

The traditional water closet has not been altered in many, many years. Sure, you may have seen some fancy bidet options and heated seats, but the principle remains the same. You go, you flush and let gravity take care of the rest. But hold on, there is a new kid on the block! 

The Vacuum Toilet

Actually, vacuum toilets have been around for years. Most of us will have had our first interaction with a vacuum toilet on an airplane or cruise ship. What do planes and ships have in common? They have limited room for water and waste. Low-flush vacuum toilets were invented to cater to the constraints of planes and ships. More recently, this smart technology was adopted by the construction industry to conserve water and make buildings more sustainable. 

How does it work?

The dedicated vacuum pump - the vacuumarator - creates vacuum in the pipe run. When you flush, a membrane opens and exposes what is inside the bowl to the vacuum in the piping. Atmospheric pressure pushes the waste through the pipes at lightening speed to the vacuumarator, which macerates the waste to a fine pulp and discharges it to the sewer line. 

You can watch an informative video on the operation of a vacuum toilet system at the bottom of this page.

What's the advantage? 

First and foremost, vacuum toilets save water. In a drought stricken country like Australia, it is unsustainable to flush up to 8 litres of fresh drinking water down the toilet each time you go. Because vacuum toilets use air rather than water to transport waste, only a fraction of the amount of water is needed. 0.5 litres is sufficient to rinse the bowl, which leads to a 90% reduction of water compared to traditional gravity toilets.

Less water used for toilet flushing also equals less waste. This is handy because less money is required to transport and treat waste and the load on municipal sewers is reduced. It also means the waste is more concentrated. 

Vacuum sanitary drainage makes it very easy to separate grey water from showers or basins and black water from toilets. This allows for easy recycling of grey water, which can then be reused. The concentrated, macerated black water can be composted or used for the production of biogas.

Vacuum piping is very small (50mm) and does not rely on gravity. This allows for great design flexibility as the piping can be routed in virtually any direction, even where traditional gravity drainage is challenged (i.e. basements) and can be hidden away in ceiling cavities. Unlike other systems, the Jets vacuum system does not require venting or holding tanks. 

Vacuum drainage can be set up with minimal impact on existing structures, which means it is ideal for retrofits, even for heritage listed buildings.

Vacuum toilets are more hygienic than traditional gravity toilets. You may have heard that you should close the lid when flushing, to avoid small particles from inside your toilet to end up on your toothbrush. Yuck. Vacuum toilets on the other hand suck in 60-100 litres of air with each flush, removing harmful particles and pathogens in the air. This makes vacuum an ideal solution for hospitals and areas of high usage, such as at events. 

If you have any further questions why you should be choosing vacuum over gravity, give us a call today or watch the videos below for more information.