Low-Cost & Ceramic + Plastic Toilets

Economical toilets, old & new: This article describes economical toilet brands, manufacturers,and sources.

We also include photographs of New Zealand's own McSkimming toilet that used a ceramic bowl and plastic cistern, and we include a description of the toilet components and how the toilet fill and flush and overflow controls work.

Ceramic + Plastic Toilets & Low-Cost Toilets

McSkimming Ceramic + Plastic Toilets, still in use in New Zealand

Below we illustrate and explain the operation and connections for a 1981 McSkimming plastic toilet that remains perfectly functional in a home in Christchurch, New Zealand. This toilet is contructed of a ceramic bowl (the toilet lower portion or body) and a colour-matched cistern (tank) that is made of plastic.

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At above center is the water supply hook-up for this toilet while at above right you can see that the toilet's drain connection is vented above the floo r(orange arrow) and through the partition wall (to and through the roof above).

New Zealand plumbing practice commonly includes a provision for directing toilet tank overflow, caused perhaps by a sticking fill valve, outside through a separate drain (blue arrow above right). This feature prevents sending volumes of water into the sewer system unnecessarily.

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At above left we illustrate the simple push-button flush control for this McSkimming toilet.

This toilet was installed in a home constructed in the early 1980's in Christchurch, New Zealand and is still in use. At above right we detail the flush control componects for this top flush toilet:

• Red arrow: the toilet tank (cistern) fill control valve
• Green arrow: fill tube to add water to the toilet bowl during a flush cycle
• Blue arrow: overflow tube to outdoor discharge
• Yellow arrow: the fill control valve's float
• White arrow: the flush actuator lever that is pushed down by the tan top pushbutton shown at above left.

Peter McSkimming, initially employed at Benhar pottery in 1882, begain operating the company himself wth completion of the new Hoffman Kiln in 1894.

The McSkimming toilet factory and kilns were located Benhar, South Otago, the site of the McSkimming brick & ceramics works where the company produced among other things, clay toilets.

The Benhar works closed in the early 1980's (by some accounts) or was bought by Ceramco, in turn bought by James Hardy (Fowlers) in 1987. In any event the McSkimming toilet factory was destroyed by fire in February 1990 and the toilet works moved production to Australia.

- Above image excerpted / adapted from TEARA, Video retrieved 9/18/14, original source: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/video/5254/clay-toilets

Low-Cost Toilet Designs & Sources

• Low cost toilets: Africa 
  • Morgan, Peter, "Toilets That Make Compost Low-cost, sanitary toilets that produce valuable compost for crops in an African context", Aquamor: Harare, Zimbabwe Stockholm Environment Institute EcoSanRes Programme 2007, Eco San Res, EcoSanRes Programme Stockholm Environment Institute Kräftriket 2B 10691 Stockholm SWEDEN Tel: +46 8 674 7070 Fax: +46 8 674 7020 Layout and Editing: Ian Caldwell Research and Communications Manager: Arno Rosemarin www.ecosanres.org, www.sei.se ISBN: ISBN 978-9-197-60222-8, Websites: http://www.ewb-usa.org/ and http://www.ecosanres.or
  • Morgan, Peter, Steven Sugden, Robert Kampala, Boyce Nyirenda, Amos Chigwenembe, Loice Mkuzi and Shadrack
    Chimanaginsasa, Mindi Stanford (Ed.), " Lessons from a low-cost ecological approach to sanitation in Malawi", Water & Sanitation Program, Contact : Peter Morgan [petlin04@yahoo.com] Andreas Knapp [aknapp@worldbank.org or wspaf@worldbank.org]
• Low cost toilets: Australia
  • "Dry sanitation solutions", Elizabeth Scott Fiordland Medical Practice, Te Anau, New Zealand

• Low cost toilet: EAWG Aquatic Research
  • The "Blue Diversion Toilet" (shown above) is a solar-powered unit providing for hand-washing as well as toilet facilities developed by EAWG.
    
    The Blue Diversion toilet design is intended to provide low-cost toilet facilities for areas where water and sewer piping are not available. The toilet design has been tested in Nairobi where customers pay a fee (per use, weekly, monthly passes) and are operated as a franchise whose staff empty the waste containers, transporting waste to recycling facilities. Quoting from Eawg:
    
    The Blue Diversion toilet, developed by Eawag - the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, together with the Vienna-based design firm EOOS, has been awarded the innovation prize for the best applied research by the International Water Association (IWA). The team is looking for an industrial partner and investors, so that Blue Diversion can be mass produced.
  • Eawag Überlandstrasse 133 P.O.Box 611 8600 Dübendorf Switzerland Ph. +41 (0)58 765 55 11 Fax +41 (0)58 765 50 28 info@eawag.ch

• Low cost toilets: India:
  • Gramalaya – Tiruchirapalli Low Cost Toilets in India (shown above, one of Gramalaya's designs, a pour flush latrine pit toilet), Gramalaya C-62 B, 10th cross, Further West extension, Near water tank,Thillainagar, Tiruchirapalli - 620 018, Tamilnadu, India Phone : +91-431-4021563, 2740263 Mobile : 094431 61263 Email: sdamodaran63@gmail.com, gramalaya@hotmail.com
    This organization provides design specifications for a variety of low-cost toilets to meet a variety of environments including child friendly toilets.
    Quoting:
    
    Gramalaya has established a Toilet Technology cum Training Centre at its rural headquarters in the village of Kolakudipatti in Thottiam block, Tiruchi district. ... Gramalaya has been implementing for more than two a nd half decades various toilet technology depending on the terrain with the support of WaterAid and Water.org for the last 20 years. There are several designs and technologies available for installing a household type sanitary latrine.
  • Sulabh Shauchalaya: low-cost sanitation, Sulabh International Social Service Organization, Dr, Bindeshwar, Sulabh Bahwan, Mahavir Enclave, Palam Dabri Road, New Delhi 110 045, India, Tel: 91 11 555 4844
• Low Cost toilets: Mexico  
  • Clark G. (1997) Case study of dry sanitation in Morelos, Mexico, http://www.nwnet.co.uk/ear
    
    thwise/10articl/esac2.ht

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  • CONTEMPORARY TOILET DESIGNS
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  • TOILET FLUSH OPERATION
  • TOILET FLUSH VOLUME
  • LOW COST TOILETS
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