How does the toilet in a commercial airliner work?
Toilets have a bad image because of what we put into them, but if you can get past that and focus on the technology behind them, they can be amazing devices!
The typical home toilet uses a bowl filled with water. When you flush the toilet, it starts a siphon that drains the bowl. Gravity then carries the water into the septic tank or the sewer system.
The problem with this approach on an airplane is that the motion of the vehicle means you cannot use a bowl filled with water -- it would splash out every time a little turbulence came along. Since there is no bowl of water, you cannot use a siphon or gravity to empty the bowl.
Airplane toilets use an active vacuum instead of a passive siphon, and they are therefore called vacuum toilets. When you flush, it opens a valve in the sewer line, and the vacuum in the line sucks the contents out of the bowl and into a tank. Because the vacuum does all the work, it takes very little water (or the blue sanitizing liquid used in airplanes) to clean the bowl for the next person. Most vacuum systems flush with just half a gallon (2 liters) of fluid or less, compared to 1.6 gallons (6 liters) for a water-saving toilet and up to 5 gallons (19 liters) for an older toilet. Amazing heh!!!!!!!
5 comments:
hmm.. im aware of the vacuum technology in airplane toilets, BUT, i am really curious to know how the stuff is actually stored, and if it really is stored onboard? if so, how much of goo can a plane hold?
In vacuum toilets it’s a tedious task to clean pooh from toilet bowl although they have a “non sticking” surface coating.
TIP: To leave it clean apply a coat of toilet paper on the bottom and side of the bowl before use. After use, but before flushing, place another layer of toilet paper on the top and with a paper cup pour water (from the washbasin) into the bowl till all paper is wet, then flush. This will make your life easier next time you use an aircraft toilet
I always think I'm gonna get flushed out of the plane whenever I flush in a plane toilet. I mean the noise is damn loud! Imagine if that happens, ur in free fall with ur turd!
I heard about "blue ice" fallin from aircraft. Is this anything to do with aircraft toilet.
Any info whether vacuum toilets are used in houses... I am thinking of having one...
ya... but "blue ice" is not from the toilet system.. if u pee into the washbasin then ya.. may be ur friends will be sprayed with ur pee heheh. anything that goes into the wash basin are sprayed into the atmosphere n ther are called "blue ice".
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