Select a toilet that meets your needs

The traditional toilet is composed of a bowl and a tank. The foremost models are one-piece, two-piece and wall-mount toilets.

The one-piece toilet - has its bowl and tank moulded together as one device, minimizing the risk of leakage and making cleaning easier. It is easier to install than a two-piece toilet and is more urban-looking with its sleek design.

The two-piece - is the most common toilet model, where the bowl and tank are separated. Generally more economical and less expensive than the one-piece model, it suits all budgets. Because it is the most popular model, replacement parts are easier to find.

The wall-mount toilet is installed to a closet carrier support in the wall. The wall carrier holds the tank, and its height is adjustable. A small bathroom equipped with a wall-mount toilet will seem much larger, since it takes up 10” less than a conventional toilet. Because it is enclosed in the wall, it is much quieter. Also, washing the floor and cleaning the toilet bowl is much easier. Ideal for someone with reduced mobility. This model is, on the other hand, more expensive to buy and install.

Aside from the role of each component, the way a toilet works is quite simple.

Most toilets work on the principles of gravity: water is stored in the tank at a higher level than the water in the bowl. When the flush lever is activated, water flows by gravity from the tank to the bowl. Water is then pulled from the bowl into the drain by a siphon effect, then down the drain to the sewer.

With pressure-assisted models, the water is stored in a canister inside the toilet tank, where it is kept at the same pressure as the water that is supplied to the toilet. When the toilet is flushed, the pressurized water forces a power flush action through the bowl.

Gravity-fed toilets and pressure-assisted toilets provide relatively equivalent flushing power, which means deciding between the two models becomes a question of personal preference rather than performance.

Most toilet models are siphonic, meaning they use the natural siphon created by the flushing water in the toilet trap to pull waste from the bowl. The smaller the toilet trap, the easier it is to create the necessary suction. But smaller traps can also make it more difficult for the waste to pass through.

Wash-down toilets, on the other hand, use the water entering the bowl to help push the waste through the trap. Because they don't need to rely only on a siphon, wash-down toilets can have a considerably larger trap diameter. But, because of the way they work, they also tend to have a much smaller water surface area in the toilet bowl. As a result, wash-down toilets generally tend to clog less often than siphonic toilets, but they may also require more frequent cleaning.

MaP testing represents the number of grams of solid waste that a toilet can completely eliminate in a single flush.

Strong competitiveness to improve toilet efficiency has resulted in hundreds of highly efficient models on the market. In 2003, the average MaP score for all tested toilets was 336 grams (12 oz), while in March 2017, the average score of 2,500 different models had more than doubled to reach 882 grams (31 oz).

Many physical impediments can complicate the installation of a toilet. When it is too expensive or impossible to use standard plumbing, you can always install a grinder or macerator toilet. The difference is in the diameter of the drainage pipe needed for the macerator toilet. Macerator technology means that pipes are much smaller in diameter and above ground piping can be installed. Macerators can be installed anywhere, without modification to existing structures.