Niagara Stealth Toilet keeps noise and water on the 'down low'

19:28 June 9, 2010

The Niagara Stealth Toilet

First things first – yes, with a name like the Stealth Toilet, it should be matte black, not glossy white. It gets its name, however, from the fact that it flushes very quietly. More importantly, it could also be considered stealthy because conventional radar will barely be able to detect the amount of water it uses - at just 0.8 gallons per flush, it is touted as the world’s most efficient toilet.

The Stealth UHET (ultra high-efficiency toilet) utilizes an air transfer system to achieve its impressive feat. Here’s how it works...

When the water tank is filling, the air at the top of that tank is displaced, and is pushed back and down through a transfer tube into the trapway - behind (and connected to) the bowl. The pressure exerted by that air upon the water in the bowl keeps it sitting high, making a nice wide splashdown zone for your... anyhow, when the flush button is pressed, the water in the tank goes into the bowl, and the air rushes back up into the tank, creating a vacuum that sucks the water and “everything else” out of the bowl and into the sewer line.

Niagara claims that the system is not affected by fluctuating water pressure levels, and contains less parts than a conventional toilet. By their calculations, it will reportedly save 37 percent more water than a standard high efficiency toilet, which translates into as much as 20,000 gallons per year. Despite the small amount of water it uses, they also claim that the powerful vacuum action will always clear the bowl in one flush.

And then there’s that “quietest flush on the planet” thing, too. Yeah, you gotta hate those loudly-flushing toilets.

The Niagara Stealth UHET is available for US$308 through the company website.

Via Green Building Advisor