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A long standing complaint with low flow toilets is they often don’t flush well (even if it had a high MaP rating).

I’ve tried most of the tricks on mine of adjusting the float, the flusher, etc.

It came to me that one of the things an older high flow toilet would have (besides volume) is more hydronic head (the tanks were often taller).

Is there a modern way to raise the tank off the base (like the old timey water closets)?

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  • How old, or what model is this toilet? Early "low flush" were not done well - recent ones are very much better (amazing what actual hydraulic design, rather than just shrinking the flush volume without changing anything else, can do) while using even less water than those early ones that flush poorly.
    – Ecnerwal
    Commented May 25, 2022 at 2:52
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    The 1.25 and 1.6 GPF recent era toilets (at least the ones I've replaced old 5's with) have tanks as tall or taller than the 5 gallon ones, but much narrower. My 1.25 sometimes needs a second flush, as did the 5 - that's 7.5 gallons saved right there. Most of the time it does just fine on one. If you have a 3.5-2 GPF that does not work well, IMHO you'd be better off scrapping it and replacing with a modern unit.
    – Ecnerwal
    Commented May 25, 2022 at 3:03
  • @Ecnerwal what I have is about 12y old and at the time had a MaP of 1000+ I looked into MaP at the time we had it installed. It was the best I could find in the price range we could aford. I guess my constitutionals regularly exceed the max for the MaP standard :-(
    – BIBD
    Commented May 25, 2022 at 12:48
  • Your assumption is faulty. Tank height is a design/aesthetic thing. You'd have to put the tank near the ceiling to see any difference. Get a new toilet.
    – isherwood
    Commented May 25, 2022 at 20:32

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I will take a WAG and say this sounds like an older installation. I believe you are measuring the hydraulic head from the floor. It should be measured to the top of the water in the bowl to the top of the water in the tank. In either case your idea would help. The problem being as you know is finding an extension. In lieu of finding a bigger tank, you could make one from plastic pipe but mounting the tank would be a problem as they are supported on the bottom by the stool portion of the toilet. That weight would also need to be supported by the wall.

I would recommend you seriously consider getting a new toilet. Please consider getting one at least "comfort height" in size.

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  • A good new 1.6GPF toilet flushes far better than any old 5GPF one ever did even when new.
    – jay613
    Commented May 25, 2022 at 21:18
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Around here (France) the old style is still being sold.

enter image description here

It is quite uncommon, so you'd have to dig a little, but it's available.

One of the advantages is the pipe can be hidden inside the drywall, which makes the toilet shorter. That's useful if you don't have a lot of space.

These really flush, no questions asked.

You don't get the water-saving "small flush/big flush" knob though.

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  • Also used in England. Gave rise to the colourful language « who pulled your chain » when someone interrupts a conversation.
    – Solar Mike
    Commented May 25, 2022 at 5:59
  • Also used in The Godfather (set in 1940s New York): “They've got an old-fashioned toilet. You know, the box and the chain thing.” Interesting how the earliest designs are sometimes the best.
    – statueuphemism
    Commented May 25, 2022 at 6:11

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