Can I flush if water to house is off?


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Old 03-22-23, 07:24 AM
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Can I flush if water to house is off?

Toilet is currently filled as normal (i.e. it hasn't been flushed since water to house was turned off due to maintenance work in the area), so I assume it's ok to flush, it just won't fill back up, correct?

And even if it perhaps shouldn't be flushed, but already has been (as my son just flushed already...) is there anything I should do/be aware of, or will it just fill back up once the water comes on again?

Thank you.
 
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Old 03-22-23, 07:47 AM
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it hasn't been flushed
my son just flushed
Which is it? It will only flush once, then your tank is empty.

Once the water is back on you will need to purge all the air out of the lines so open every faucet and shower valve and flush every toilet. They will make banging and sputtering noises until all the air is out. Don't be surprised to see dirty water when you do this, that's normal.
 
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Old 03-22-23, 07:58 AM
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Thanks and yeah, sorry, I started typing above asking the question, then heard my son flush...but neglected to adjust my post.

In any case, as long as there is no harm to what he did I'm glad.

And thanks for the tip regarding running all faucets, etc...
 
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Old 03-22-23, 08:34 AM
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There are two ways to flush a toilet when the water is off. If the toilet's water tank is full all you have to do is flush normally. But you get only 1 or 2 flushes before the tank is empty so budget your flushes carefully. Muscle memory can be very strong so during an outage you may want to put a sign or tape over the toilet handle so you think before hitting the lever.

The second method may be used if you have an alternate source of water like a; rain barrel, pond or creek. Get a bucket and a gallon or two of water. Then when you want to flush the toilet quickly pour the bucket of water into the center of the toilet bowl. That will initiate a flush. Because the water is off the tank and bowl will not refill after the flush.
 
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Old 03-22-23, 08:45 AM
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Great, thanks so much. Water just came back on so we should be all set.
 
 

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