Yes ! But it’s tricky. Lower water usage may not be desirable or easy.
You can retrofit a 5 or 3.5 GPF (gallons per flush) toilet to a 1.6 or a 1.28 GBF toilet, with keeping the same tank and same bowl by doing the instructions below.
- Install an adjustable flapper – Several manufacturers make toilet flappers that can be adjusted to control how much water flows into the toilet when it is flushed. Check which model of toilet you have, and purchase the right flapper. Then, install the adjustable flapper in your toilet. Experiment until you find the right setting for your needs, giving enough of a flush to wash away the contents, without wasting water.
- Install a tank bag – Purchase a tank bag. It serves the same purpose as putting a brick in your tank, without the risk of having the brick dissolve. Just fill the bag with water and hang it in your toilet tank. It’ll displace some of the water, thereby reducing the amount of water needed to refill the tank after each flush. Water savings: An amount equal to the size of the bag.
- Install a fill cycle diverter – The toilet tank and bowl may fill at the same time, but they don’t fill at the same rate, (the bowl fills faster). Since the fill valve doesn’t shut off until the tank is full, this means that water continues to be fed to the bowl. So, where does this extra water go? Straight down the drain! Install a fill cycle diverter to eliminate this waste. It’s a small piece that connects to the fill line and overflow tube. It’s designed to divert water back to the tank, once the bowl is full. Water savings: A half-gallon or more per fill. Video on it is here.
Once you have retrofitted your older toilet, you can try this trick to measure how much water that toilet is now using per flush. The link is here.
Note: In Southern California specifically, most toilets are 1.6 GPF (gallons per flush) these days. A lower 1.28 GPF toilet may be required in some jurisdictions or cities, but they are less desirable by homeowners as they just do not flush as well as the 1.6 GPF and greater GPF toilets.
Call us with any questions you may have at 310.800.4418.
Some older toilets may have special adapter made by the manufacturer to reduce flow into the entire toilet. Below is one such device, it restricts the amount of water flowing in and out of the tank, making it a 1.6GBF toilet instead of a 3.0GBF (gallons per flush) toilet. But alas, less flow on older, retrofitted toilets, may increase clogs in the toilet.
