Toilet Parts

Getting to know your bowl

• The bowl and siphon. Well, the bowl is sort of obvious. That is the concave piece of porcelain right underneath you. The siphon, however, is perhaps the most crucial part of a toilet. The siphon is the serpentine tube that is attached to the back of the bowl. The siphon keeps the water level when the toilet is not in use, and it triggers the flushing when water is quickly added to the bowl.

• The flush mechanism. There are several small parts involved in getting your toilet to flush: the handle and chain; the flush valve; the drain hole; the rim holes; and the siphon jet.
  
  Inside the tank, the chain is attached to the back of the handle. When you push on the handle, it pulls the chain. The chain lifts the flush valve, which then floats out of the way, revealing a drain hole at the bottom of the tank. Uncovering this hole allows the water to enter the bowl.
  
  Most toilets have been designed so that the water enters the rim and then drains into the bowl through holes. A good portion of the water flows down to a larger hole, known as the siphon jet, at the bottom of the bowl. Because all of the water in the bowl enters the tank in about three seconds, it is enough to fill and activate the siphon effect, and all of the water and waste in the bowl is sucked out.

• The refill mechanism. The refill mechanism has a valve that turns the water on and off. The valve turns the water on when the filler float (or ball float) falls. The float falls when the water level in the tank drops. The filler valve (or refill valve) sends water in two directions-into the tank and into the bowl.

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