We did it ourselves! Installing a Dual-Flushing Mechanism on Your Toilet

Saw this post on Young House Love.  (This couple is so creative...I am humbled by the stuff they dream up.)  Anyway, as they were preparing for the arrival of their first child, they were doing all kinds of fun things...who knew the bathroom would be included?  John's pictures were so clear and his instructions even made sense to a non-plumbing kind of girl.  When I saw them, my used-to-live-in-So-Cal-always-conscious-of-water-self thought, "Hey, I can do that!"  I showed it to Valiant and he agreed...definitely doable.  (Just to be clear, we ignored the diaper cleaning part of the post...we're long past that stage of life.)  Okay, actually, Valiant did the whole thing.  I just bought the thing - $24.99 at Home Depot.  It took him 10 minutes from start to finish.

This is the inside of the tank before we changed anything. (Oh, and please excuse the paint...this is the one room we haven't tackled since we moved in.  It needs to be gutted and we're scared to touch anything until we're ready to do it all.) :

This is the inside of the tank after...the flapper has been replaced:

This is my new handle.  (Which means no one could flush with feet at my house, but that is a different post altogether!)

Anyway, just as easily as he said, Valiant gave me a dual flush toilet and now I'm using less water to send some stuff through the pipes. (We pay almost nothing for water here, but I like the idea of  using as little fresh water as possible. It is precious.  In So Cal, water was EXPENSIVE.)   Now that we've taken it on a test run, we're planning to do our two other toilets. 

I think Superman will approve.

(What?  You're not quite sure what I'm talking about with this whole dual-flush toilet thingy?  Okay...fair enough.   Head back to Junior High and think of it this way:  Number 1 wastes go down with less water than Number 2 wastes.  No major changes, just adjust how much water is used depending upon your needs.)