Ask Me Help Desk - Toilet does not completely flush

I have a basement toilet and also a septic system. When flushed, the toilet fills almost to the top and then goes down like it normally would, but does not completely empty. Looks like a small water funnel twisting around, but just does not make that final "burp" as the water fully leaves. Have tried plunging but is not making a difference.

Mike W.

I had this problem when I switched my toilet to the modern 1.6 gallon requirement. It did exactly as you described and required more than one flush often. The reason I found was that the septic line attached in the floor to my toilet simply had an immediate 90 degree elbow then gradual fall out to septic system. After the water leaves the bowl and starts down the drain, the fall of the water down the pipes actually creates a vacuum pulling water out of the bowl. This drop or fall is absent in many slab and basement septic drains. The 1.6 gallon toilets don't have enough volume of water to get this effect active without enough drop or fall through pipe.

To solve this installed a pressure assist toilet, it cost about $50 more than a standard toilet. These flush like an industrial toilet forcing water into bowl. I biught the Gerber brand identified in this web link.

Toilet Reviews, Best Toilet

Quote:

Originally Posted by cgregory67

I had this problem when I switched my toilet to the modern 1.6 gallon requirement. It did exactly as you described and required more than one flush often. The reason I found was that the septic line attached in the floor to my toilet simply had an immediate 90 degree elbow then gradual fall out to septic system. After the water leaves the bowl and starts down the drain, the fall of the water down the pipes actually creates a vacuum pulling water out of the bowl. This drop or fall is absent in many slab and basement septic drains. The 1.6 gallon toilets don’t have enough volume of water to get this effect active without enough drop or fall through pipe.

To solve this installed a pressure assist toilet, it cost about $50 more than a standard toilet. These flush like an industrial toilet forcing water into bowl. I biught the Gerber brand identified in this web link.

Toilet Reviews, Best Toilet

Thanks for the QUICK reply. I may need to upgrade as it sounds like I have the same setup. However, before going that far, I should add that the toilet has worked well for the 3 years I have lived in this 16 year old home. Never had an issue. After I submitted my question, I reached into the toilet to see if something was not getting plunged and blocking it, and also to feel for that inlet hole. Did not find any objects (thank goodness, never reached that far into a toilet before) and the hole seemed to be very clean that I guess shoots water into that bottom hole in the bowl.

If it worked well for 3 years then a restriction to flow is probably the problem. Very possibly problem is within the toilet itself. A funny situation I had once was a toilet that flushed well intermittently and we tried everything, snaking the bowl and the drains. Finally I replaced the toilet and all was fine. I broke the other toilet apart and found a flat plastic disk from a kid's toy lodged in the porcelain trap. It would rotate like a flap, similar if you held a coin between two fingers. This would spin and get stuck periodically by waste. Such a weird problem it was.

Hey, do you have pump your waste up and out to septic tank by chance?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cgregory67

If it worked well for 3 years then a restriction to flow is probably the problem. Very possibly problem is within the toilet itself. A funny situation I had once was a toilet that flushed well intermittently and we tried everything, snaking the bowl and the drains. Finaly I replaced the toilet and all was fine. I broke the other toilet apart and found a flat plastic disk from a kid’s toy lodged in the porcelain trap. It would rotate like a flap, similar if you held a coin between two fingers. This would spin and get stuck periodically by waste. Such a weird problem it was.

Hey, do you have pump your waste up and out to septic tank by chance?

Thanks. I do have twin 4 yr. olds and something may hove gone into the toilet that was not supposed to (but they will never admit that tonight).
I am not very handy, but from what you say, I am going to buy a snake tomorrow and see if maybe there is something in the trap (not sure will do any good).

Will try to answer your question but am fairly new to all of this septic stuff. I do not know of any pumps, and other than cleaning the aerator once a year and using rid-X, system seems to work like my old homes on public sewers.

Ah, a 4 year old….gosh could be anything. Kids love to flush everything, come to think of it I had a pencil clogging my toilet once…a full size unsharpened pencil. This was after my son was flushing the toilet like crazy one day and noticed poor drainage a few days later. I used a plunger and plunged that toilet like a mad man. If you do this, concentrate not so much on the force down but pulling up with the plunger sharply. I was able to pull that pencil back up with the plungers vacuum.

So again, push down slowly then rapid pulls up with plunger, it may get a little messy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cgregory67

Ah, a 4 year old….gosh could be anything. Kids love to flush everything, come to think of it I had a pencil clogging my toilet once…a full size unsharpened pencil. This was after my son was flushing the toilet like crazy one day and noticed poor drainage a few days later. I used a plunger and plunged that toilet like a mad man. If you do this, concentrate not so much on the force down but pulling up with the plunger sharply. I was able to pull that pencil back up with the plungers vacuum.

So again, push down slowly then rapid pulls up with plunger, it may get a little messy.

Appreciate your help and replies. Wanted to let you and others know that I got it figured out last night. I was shocked by what was causing this. The holding tank LOOKED FULL, BUT it was about 1/2 inch below the regular water mark. I noticed this, but thought NO WAY could 1/2 inch would make any difference. Since I was frustrated, I held the ball in the tank down until it was going down the overflow tube, then flushed. It worked PERFECTLY. So after sitcking my hand in the toilet, plunging, flushing while feeling if the water was coming out the right holes... It ended up being that the ball was restricting just that last little amount of water.
So, guess I am anwering my question for others out there also. My tank was probably 90% full, but just was not enough to get that final push to get that "gurgle" at the end of the flush.