From J. Watson
B. McManus’s patented gadget, which is designed to tell you when your toilet
cistern is about to overflow, is an example of a costly method of solving a
self-imposed and unnecessary difficulty
(25 December 1999, p 9).
If a flap valve flush were used instead of the primitive siphon flush, the
excess water would simply enter the pedestal audibly and visibly, and there
would be no need for an outside overflow.
After decades of use in North America, Japan and much of the Continent, the
flap (or drop) valve was finally approved last July for installation in British
lavatories.
Swansea
