Edit: OK, I am not sure where I got 2.5 gallons from because it turns out standard toilets in the US are 1.6 gallons, as the comment below states. It still seems crazy to me that 1.6 gallons can push waste all the way from the toilet to the sewer. I feel like it would stop at some point and need more water to get to the street.
On a side note, I find plumbing and water treatment fascinating.
In: Engineering
Everything is sloped down hill until you either get to the treatment plant or a pumping station. More importantly, it doesn’t have to make it all the way there in one go.
The toilet flush has to get the solid waste as far as your main drain to the street – not even to the street sewer, just your main drain is enough. From there, every time you wash your hands or do the dishes or take a shower you are flushing more water down the same drain. Provided it doesn’t manage block up, this will keep things moving enough and once you’re into a main sewer there will be enough flow from different sources that there’s always some water moving through the system
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