Why are toilets not joined to the main plumbing via a dedicated, leak proof joint? Something that latches into the toilet and is sealed? Automotive, aircraft, and other industries have high pressure fluid lines. Could someone conceive of an improvement to the current toilet connection?
In: Engineering
In America, wax seals are used. In most of the rest of the world we use compression fittings with rubber washers to connect the toilet bowl to the waste.
In Europe a seal made of EVA is commonly used between the toilet and the sewer pipe. Lasts for decades, just as cheap as a wax ring and can be reused. So there already are alternatives in use, I’d wager it’s just a matter of inertia, wax rings are good enough, it’s hard to move away from that.
Wax rings allow for quite a bit of misalignment between the flange and the toilet. Between crooked framing and sloppy tile jobs you rarely get a perfectly true toilet flange. They are also dirt cheap and are known to last 30+ years.
Could make it a one-piece toilet where the bottom part is a 4″ opening with a lip that requires a slip over to seal connection between it and the drainpipe, of course there are some chemicals that just might eat through the materials.
One of the best kept secrets to those wax rings is to warm them just a little before setting the stool and when you tighten the bolts don’t over torque them.
Hair dryer work well and warm NOT MELT and the seal will form and hold for years if done correctly.
N. S
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