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Can I Collect Water in a Bucket to Flush the Toilet?

Can I collect water in a bucket to flush the toilet?

It may seem unfathomable to take a trip to the bathroom without running any water, but it is possible. Most newer toilets require only 1.5 gallons of water or less, but if you have an older toilet it may require more. Typically, if the water is shut off, the toilet will still have one flush left—toilets automatically fill up the bowl after being flushed. If that extra flush is already used, you can easily recreate a flush. It’s as easy as these four steps:

  1. Use a bucket to collect water from another source, such as the rain or pool.

  2. Remove the toilet tank lid.

  3. Fill the toilet tank with the collected water until it reaches the top of the overflow tube.

  4. Flush the toilet!

There’s another method if you want to avoid removing the tank lid:

  1. Fill a bucket with water.

  2. Lift the toilet seat and lid.

  3. Dump the water into the bowl with one pour. Pouring slowly will only fill the bowl, so pour with as much force as possible to create a strong flush.

  4. Repeat until the bowl is clean of any residue.

Flushing your toilet with a bucket of water is a great solution to recreate modern indoor plumbing when you don’t have running water for any reason, including a plumbing problem.

Lack of running water may be the result of someone working on a plumbing issue, or it could be an outage due to a major storm or flood. The professionals at Roto-Rooter are available 24 hours a day to assess your home’s plumbing situation. Simply call 800-768-6911.

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Toilet