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How a Toilet Works
Home » Plumbing » Toilet Repair » How a Toilet WorksThe most important component for the function of a toilet is gravity. Water enters the toilet at its base through a supply line with a shutoff valve. The water travels up the supply line and is diverted in two directions by an inlet-valve assembly (sometimes called a ballcock). Most of the water flows into the tank, but some of goes directly into the tank via an overflow tube. In essence, as the tank fills up, so does the bowl. The toilet stops filling when the float ball reaches a certain point. When the float ball reaches that point, it puts pressure on the ballcock, which shuts off the flow of water. When the toilet is flushed, the handle trips a lever that raises a flapper covering an opening at the bottom of the tank. This opening is called the flush-valve seat. When the flapper is raised, gravity pulls the water from the tank through the hollow body of the bowl into the bowl itself. The waste is then carried down through the drain. This is a result of the cyclone effect caused by water rushing into the bowl. Right after it opens, the flapper drops back down into position and the tank begins to fill back up. Toilet parts may vary depending on the tank, but the basic operations are always the same. Some of the variations in models are as follows. Floats in older models are often made of copper, while new model floats are usually made of plastic. The mechanism that lifts the flapper is either a rod or a chain. Older ballcock assemblies are made of brass, while newer ones are plastic. And finally, instead of a float ball, some toilets have a float cup that slides up and down a tube as the water level rises and falls.
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