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  • A riddle for you: The average person uses it about 2,500 times a year.

  • Over a lifetime, you end up spending 3 months there.

  • It gets the highest number of simultaneous visitors during Super Bowl halftime.

  • Nope, it’s not the ATM, but another place where you can make a deposit.

  • Yep, today were talkintoilet, and to find out how it works, I’m inviting you

  • on an exclusive trip inside the tank!

  • Yeah really.

  • Hold your nose.

  • That’s it.

  • Believe it or not, the key moving power behind today’s toilets isgravity.

  • But for gravity to pull our waste away, it needs some help.

  • That’s where the commode’s specific design and engineering come into play.

  • What happens when you flush will often depend on where you live in this world, but here

  • are the basics

  • First, the main parts.

  • There’s that tank behind you where you might have some decorative potpourri sitting on

  • top.

  • If you take the lid off, youll see a bunch of water sitting inside.

  • It’s not alone, though.

  • There are two tall vertical structures.

  • One’s the fill valve, and the other one in the middle is the flush valve.

  • The fill valve works a lot like a doorman at the club.

  • It decides when there’s enough water and stops more of it from getting in.

  • When the tank empties, it lets new water in.

  • There’s also a “float ballattached to the fill valve.

  • When the water level rises (usually AFTER you flush), this ball will go up with it.

  • Once the water level gets to where it needs to be, a float rod attached to the ball pushes

  • the fill valve so that extra water can’t get in.

  • Thanks to that, the tank doesn’t get too full and send water overflooding all over

  • your bathroom!

  • Well that’s a good thing.

  • But, of course, things aren’t always this calm.

  • I can hear stepssomeone’s coming in!

  • Finally, the action is about to start!

  • Well, let’s fast forward to when the business is done.

  • Good idea

  • Now, a typical American toilet has a handle on the side of the tank that you push down

  • to flush.

  • In Europe, some older places still have pull chains above the commode.

  • No matter where you are, the newest models have a dual-flush system to save water.

  • Your handle or chain gets replaced with a button on top of the tank.

  • If you look closer, youll see that it’s actually two buttonsone releases half

  • the water in the tank and the otherall of it.

  • Which button you push depends on how much water youll need to uhwash everything

  • away.

  • When you press the handle or push the button to flush the toilet, it pulls on a chain that

  • lifts this thing on the very bottom of the tank called the flapper.

  • No not the dancer from the 1920’s – this one is piece of rubber.

  • When that little cap is down, it creates a seal and keeps the water from leaving the

  • tank.

  • When it’s lifted, well, the water moves through a short pipe where it makes its way

  • to the bowl.

  • Uh-oh, fork in the road!

  • Water doesn't just come out in one large stream but moves through scattered holes in the rim.

  • This way, it can not only wash away whatever is inside the bowl but also clean the sides!

  • Hey, less scrubbing for you!

  • Most of the water successfully leaves the system through the main drain, but some of

  • it stays in the bowl.

  • This is good for hygienethe water stops germs and bad smells that would otherwise

  • spread from the sewer.

  • By the way, this is the modern toilet’s contribution to public health.

  • They help prevent contagious diseases from spreading!

  • The water also needs to sit there for the whole thing to work, which brings me to

  • That big curved pipe under the toilet toward the wallit’s called the S-bend, and

  • that’s where all the magic happens!

  • Toilet magic.

  • Yeah.

  • It’s so magical, in fact, that you don’t even really need the tank on the back to flush

  • your toilet.

  • You could just pour a bucket of water directly into the bowl, and itll flush everything

  • down the main drain!

  • It happens because of something called the Siphon Effect.

  • Thanks to that special curvature in the S-pipe, it creates something called a trap.

  • When you fill the bowl with each flush, you overflow and break that trap, causing the

  • main drain (well, gravity) to literally pull the water down.

  • That’s why you see the water in the bowl rise a bit before it all rushes out.

  • Let me put it this way: have you ever emptied a large fish tank by pulling all the water

  • out through a tube?

  • One end of the tube goes in the aquarium full of water, the other hangs out (AND down!

  • You need that bend!), and you help get the siphon process going by drawing a bit out

  • with your lips.

  • Though, not recommendedfish tanks are filthy!

  • Wouldn’t wanna accidentally swallow that stuff.

  • Anyway, your toilet flush works the same way.

  • Once it’s pulled all the water it can, it starts taking in air, hence that iconic gurgling

  • sound you hear with each flush.

  • The air stops the Siphon Effect, and congratsyou flushed the toilet.

  • That’s if you live in North America, where siphon toilets are the thing.

  • Over in Europe, they use the washdown system.

  • Instead of pulling the water out, it basically gets pushed down through the exit.

  • It’s why you won’t see a whole bowl of water in Europe, and American toilets are

  • almost full of it!

  • Wherever you are, the water will successfully leave the system anyway.

  • So, where does it go from there?

  • Glad you asked

  • The bathroom is just one part of the journey.

  • That toilet water joins the soapy water from your daily showers, dishwashing, and laundry

  • days.

  • From now on, it’s called sewage.

  • Sewage from your house moves down through pipes and meets more sewage from your neighbors,

  • nearby businesses, and anybody along the way.

  • To give you an idea of how massive those pipes aresometimes theyre the size of a

  • bus!

  • The bigger the city, the more sewage there is, obviously.

  • Speaking of which, do you live in a large city or a small town?

  • Let me know in the comments below!

  • All those gigantic rivers of waste flow into treatment plants.

  • There, they remove any harmful substances from the wateryou can imagine how many

  • germs are in there!

  • And not only germs but also some surprising finds, from toys to jewelry, watches, and

  • dentures!

  • Once, they even found half a mini car in the London sewers!

  • The cleaning process takes a long time with all the proper chemical processing.

  • And only after it's definitely clean and safe, the water is set free into a nearby river

  • or the ocean.

  • As for the treated sewage, it can be turned into energy or new water.

  • In Singapore, for example, they transform it into drinking water that exceeds international

  • quality standards!

  • But it’s not like you need water to flush a commode!

  • There are composting toilets that turn waste into organic compost.

  • Youve also got incinerating toilets that burn it!

  • But the most famous waterless lavatory has to be the airplane toilet.

  • They use a disinfecting liquid and powerful vacuum suction thanks to the air pressure

  • difference inside and outside the cabin.

  • When you've done your business and flush, the waste is pulled out at rocket speeds.

  • Then it goes to the back of the plane and rests safely in sealed tanks awaiting landing.

  • So, no, it doesn’t just get dropped out of the plane and onto the heads of unfortunate

  • people on the ground that get an unexpected shower!

  • Finally, the question from London: is it true that from the master bathroom in Buckingham

  • Palace, the Queen can do a Royal Flush?

  • And is there any toilet joke older than that?

  • Hey, if you learned something new today, then give the video a like and share it with a

  • friend!

  • And here are some other videos I think you'll enjoy.

  • Just click to the left or right, and stay on the Bright Side of life!

A riddle for you: The average person uses it about 2,500 times a year.

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