High-Flow Toilets - Toilets that Never Clog

Do you have a toilet that clogs so often that its best friend is a plunger? It's annoying and gross to have to hammer away at your toilet with a plunger every time you have a BM, splashing god-knows-what all around your bathroom, just because you used more than 2 squares of toilet paper or ate a particularly high-fiber meal...

Fortunately, some ingenious toilet engineers (yes, they exist, although they might not call themselves that on their resumes) have designed some modern versions that are almost impossible to clog. And, no, I'm not talking about those water-saving ones that suck loudly like a rocket, like those scary ones in airplanes. These generally do the job by just having a larger, wider-diameter flush valve (the stopper in your tank that lifts up to send the water gushing downward) and trapway (the pipe that leads from the bowl to your sewer line), so that a higher volume of water flows through your cistern faster, and is less likely to get stopped up.

We have the American Standard Champion 4 at our home, and my parents have the Toto Drake, so I can vouch for these, and they're pretty widely available, too.

The name is partially misleading: my AS Champion was, in fact, made in Mexico. But it is certainly a champion. In the 2 years we've been using this, we've had the thing clog up once, and that was only after a particularly overzealous use of toilet paper, the quantity of which could have probably choked a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The company boasts the largest flush valve and trapway in the industry: 4" and 2 3/8", respectively. They say that it will move a "mass" (wonder what they mean by that?) that's 70% larger than the industrial average. That's a lot of fiber!

We bought ours at Home Depot for about $140 (yes, you can get them that cheap, but depending on the features and look you're after, you can also spend upwards of $500) and installed it using SirDent's concise instructions. It was fairly straightforward to install, although getting it to line up flush with the floor required some wooden shims before we could caulk it into place.

Because this toilet is also virtually uncloggable, you end up using a lot less water. Instead of multiple flushes for each "sitting," you end up only having to flush once after it's all said and done. Keep in mind that this toilet has a 1.6 gallon tank capacity (not 3.0 gallons, like older ones), so that's all the more impressive.

Another unrelated (but nice) benefit is that the inside of the bowl is coated with something called EverClean, which slows down the accumulation of a biofilm (most obvious as a ring at the waterline). I would say, based on our experience, it does work somewhat, but you won't be throwing away your toilet brush completely any time soon.

Toto of Japan makes a wide range of sleek-looking toilets (so nice-looking, you almost forget what they're really for), and those with the "G-Max" capability are the high-flow units that are almost impossible to clog. My parents have a G-Max toilet at their place and also tell me they've never experienced any clogging problems with it.

Although these toilets prevent clogs in much the same way as AS's do, American Standard can still lay claim to the largest flush valve and trapway. Toto's G-Max toilets' are just a touch smaller: a 3" flush valve, and 2 1/8" trapway. However, Toto's variant pairs it with a powerful siphon jet that does give it a bit of a gurgly FWOOP! sound that might remind you a bit of airplane toilets, but not nearly that violent-sounding.

There are 2 lines, the Drake (a bit wider and smoother-looking) and the Promenade (narrower, and more class/old-fashioned looking) that feature the G-Max capability. The Drakes retail from $350 upward, and the Promenades begin at around $525. You might be able to get them cheaper from a discounter, though.

There are a couple of Promenade models that you can get with what Toto calls "Sanagloss," a coating for the interior of the bowl that prevents the buildup of bacterial biofilms, mold, and other stuff. This is similar to American Standard's EverClean surface.

While I've used the Drake a few times at my folks' place, my parents are the ones with lots of day-to-day experience with it. When I asked them how they are, my dad said: "They're great." Any problems? "None."