Saving water ("If it's yellow let it mellow") - General Discussion

archiver · 16-09-2005, 20:26

I watched BBC2's "No waste like home" last night and the presenter (Penney Poyzer) suggested that we should save water in the WC by only flushing "when necessary". To make it easier to remember what to do she coined the following rhyme:

If it's yellow, let it mellow,
If it's brown, flush it down.

Seems like a good idea to me, but people I've mentioned it to seem adamant that they could not do it in their household. Could you?

raptorz · 16-09-2005, 20:29

I dont think I could it would just make me think the toilet is dirty!

What about splash-back too if its yellow

moza · 16-09-2005, 20:34

Urgh, no way.

Having worked on a ship with toilets that wouldn't flush due to plumbing problems (ever seen cruises from hell?), I can honestly say that a toilet of unflushed pee smells far, far worse than unflushed poo.

I feel sick just thinking about that now!

CHUTNEY · 16-09-2005, 20:35

One of those 'flow control' bags in the cistern is a good idea too. Although I probably waste what I save by leaving the tap running when cleaning my teeth..........

Adam792 · 16-09-2005, 20:36

What happens when you blow chunks down there?

neddy2000 · 16-09-2005, 20:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHUTNEY

One of those 'flow control' bags in the cistern is a good idea too. Although I probably waste what I save by leaving the tap running when cleaning my teeth..........

Why not just go the whole way and use the mellow yellow to brush your teeth, after all it is sterile

CHUTNEY · 16-09-2005, 20:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamJW

What happens when you blow chunks down there?

You 'deal' with it in the morning!

the net guru · 16-09-2005, 20:38

i think it's a stupid idea personally.

artnada · 16-09-2005, 20:42

That's disgusting and potentially un-hygeneic. I mean, what about "splash back" when you have a crap? Eeeww, having someone elses pee splash up your bum. Makes me shudder.

Perhaps they should conectrate of teaching people with hose pipes not to water the grass when it has just been raining overnight

A think that irritates me immensly. Grass will always come back to life pretty quick with a bit of rain, because when it is dry it simply goes into a dormant state until water arrives.

I see this alot of the hills around me. When it's dry for a long period, the hills go brown, when it rains a couple of times, the hills start turning a shade of green again!

I even saw a bloke "washing" his driveway gates with a hose pipe today. He could have simply used a bowl of water and a brush, but no, lets use a bloody hoepipe! Needless to say, 95% of the water went straight on the pavement outside!

He is the type of person who should be pulled up for wasting water!

CHUTNEY · 16-09-2005, 21:04

What's even worse is 'one that won't flush', I'm having this problem with a satsuma at the moment. Please don't ask........

Adam792 · 16-09-2005, 21:06

CHUTNEY! Too much info!

malaikah · 17-09-2005, 00:29

Yes, I tend to practice the 'yellow let it mellow' rule in our house. I mean, what a waste - all that water just to flush away a bit of pee. Get a grip people!

I also encourage the children not to flush if they have only pee'd. Maybe after a few toilet visits flush it then. Keep the lid down on the bog seat. Especially when the toilet is being used frequently - as it should if you have people in the house drinking a healthy amount of fluids in a day - flushing it every few hours or few visits saves a vast amount of water.

And theres no excuse for not cleaning the toilet frequently - a quick clean once or twice a week keeps it sparkling! Even a daily wipe around the top of the bowl with bog roll/flushable wipes of some sort avoids those yukky male-caused yellow splashmarks.

Little Bleeder · 17-09-2005, 00:41

But doing this would spoil me and my husband's wee concentration game, where we see which one of us can make the blue (Domestos block) toilet water go the darkest green before bedtime. I usually win - whereas my husband's four pack of Strongbow provides bubbles!

(He refuses to play when I make the water go purple

)

Hathor · 17-09-2005, 06:33

One of my sisters does this at her house, but to avoid noise at night. If I stay over and get up in the middle of the night, I am faced with a pan full of her festering stinking excretions. It's quite a turn off from staying over at her place!

dmuk · 17-09-2005, 07:36

I drink a shed of load of water a day anyway, so i flush after 2 trips, since mine is usually clear, not yellow. How anyone could leave yellow pee in their toilet is beyond me, the smell of a bowl full of stale urine is vile!

jesaya · 17-09-2005, 07:57

Just started doing this and it is not as gross as I had thought it would be. I confess I put a few drops of Toilet Duck in after I have been... no doubt I am saving water but also now destroying something else with extra bleach.

shyfoxcub - I love your game and am going to suggest it to her indoors!

neddy2000 · 17-09-2005, 13:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by shyfoxcub

But doing this would spoil me and my husband's wee concentration game, where we see which one of us can make the blue (Domestos block) toilet water go the darkest green before bedtime. I usually win - whereas my husband's four pack of Strongbow provides bubbles!

(He refuses to play when I make the water go purple

)

You know, you're gonna have to change your name to foxcub if there are any more revelations like that

agog · 17-09-2005, 13:47

I couldn't leave urine in the toilet bowl for any length of time, but if hubby or I are using the toilet shortly after the other, there's: "Are you just weeing? Don't flush!"

Seems like a fair compromise

Spot · 17-09-2005, 15:23

Those guys on that programme were unbelievable - did you see the clothes they put in the bin - they looked almost new, yet they didn't want to take them to a charity shop!

ikkleosu · 17-09-2005, 15:46

My dad always did this, and I've kind of carried it on. Especially as I'm the only one really using the upstairs lou. I leave it maybe till I've been twice to flush. We also have the night time rule because the pipes go through 2 bedrooms and would wake the whole house with a flush. It is not pleasant first thing but as long as the lid is down, you have a good flush and a decent toilet cleaner flush thing, it's fine.

Urine is sterile when it leaves your body so i don't see a big problem.

16-09-2005, 20:26	#1
archiver Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Gender: Male Location: Sol 3 Services: Linux-Mint-8 Opera-10.10 Posts: 1,789	Saving water ("If it's yellow let it mellow") I watched BBC2's "No waste like home" last night and the presenter (Penney Poyzer) suggested that we should save water in the WC by only flushing "when necessary". To make it easier to remember what to do she coined the following rhyme: If it's yellow, let it mellow, If it's brown, flush it down. Seems like a good idea to me, but people I've mentioned it to seem adamant that they could not do it in their household. Could you?

16-09-2005, 20:29	#2
raptorz Forum Member Join Date: May 2003 Services: Sky+, Sky HD, Virgin 10mb, Vonage VoIP, Win XP, Win Vista premium Posts: 3,333	I dont think I could it would just make me think the toilet is dirty! What about splash-back too if its yellow

16-09-2005, 20:34	#3
moza Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Wakefield Services: 8meg ADSL (UKOnline), freeview, freesat, desktop PC, Medion Akoya netbook Posts: 956	Urgh, no way. Having worked on a ship with toilets that wouldn't flush due to plumbing problems (ever seen cruises from hell?), I can honestly say that a toilet of unflushed pee smells far, far worse than unflushed poo. I feel sick just thinking about that now!

16-09-2005, 20:35	#4
CHUTNEY Banned User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Newcastle on Tyne. Posts: 15,665	One of those 'flow control' bags in the cistern is a good idea too. Although I probably waste what I save by leaving the tap running when cleaning my teeth..........

16-09-2005, 20:36	#5
Adam792 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Gender: Male Location: Staffordshire Services: Freeview, FTA&TNT Sat(19.2/13°E), Virgin TV+BB, vodafone PAYM & Nokia 6220C Posts: 2,140 Blog Entries: 8	What happens when you blow chunks down there?

16-09-2005, 20:38	#8
the net guru Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Services: sky Posts: 818	i think it's a stupid idea personally.

16-09-2005, 20:42	#9
artnada Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Cornwall...I wish! Services: VirginMedia 10mb - Main OS - Windows 7 RTM (build 7600) Posts: 6,659	That's disgusting and potentially un-hygeneic. I mean, what about "splash back" when you have a crap? Eeeww, having someone elses pee splash up your bum. Makes me shudder. Perhaps they should conectrate of teaching people with hose pipes not to water the grass when it has just been raining overnight A think that irritates me immensly. Grass will always come back to life pretty quick with a bit of rain, because when it is dry it simply goes into a dormant state until water arrives. I see this alot of the hills around me. When it's dry for a long period, the hills go brown, when it rains a couple of times, the hills start turning a shade of green again! I even saw a bloke "washing" his driveway gates with a hose pipe today. He could have simply used a bowl of water and a brush, but no, lets use a bloody hoepipe! Needless to say, 95% of the water went straight on the pavement outside! He is the type of person who should be pulled up for wasting water!

16-09-2005, 21:04	#10
CHUTNEY Banned User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Newcastle on Tyne. Posts: 15,665	What's even worse is 'one that won't flush', I'm having this problem with a satsuma at the moment. Please don't ask........

16-09-2005, 21:06	#11
Adam792 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Gender: Male Location: Staffordshire Services: Freeview, FTA&TNT Sat(19.2/13°E), Virgin TV+BB, vodafone PAYM & Nokia 6220C Posts: 2,140 Blog Entries: 8	CHUTNEY! Too much info!

17-09-2005, 00:29	#12
malaikah Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Not far enough Services: Postal Posts: 9,313	Yes, I tend to practice the 'yellow let it mellow' rule in our house. I mean, what a waste - all that water just to flush away a bit of pee. Get a grip people! I also encourage the children not to flush if they have only pee'd. Maybe after a few toilet visits flush it then. Keep the lid down on the bog seat. Especially when the toilet is being used frequently - as it should if you have people in the house drinking a healthy amount of fluids in a day - flushing it every few hours or few visits saves a vast amount of water. And theres no excuse for not cleaning the toilet frequently - a quick clean once or twice a week keeps it sparkling! Even a daily wipe around the top of the bowl with bog roll/flushable wipes of some sort avoids those yukky male-caused yellow splashmarks.

17-09-2005, 00:41	#13
Little Bleeder Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: South Mid Wales Services: Sky for All Posts: 1,249	But doing this would spoil me and my husband's wee concentration game, where we see which one of us can make the blue (Domestos block) toilet water go the darkest green before bedtime. I usually win - whereas my husband's four pack of Strongbow provides bubbles! (He refuses to play when I make the water go purple )

17-09-2005, 06:33	#14
Hathor Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Babylon and Ting Services: I reject your reality, and substitute my own! Posts: 8,957	One of my sisters does this at her house, but to avoid noise at night. If I stay over and get up in the middle of the night, I am faced with a pan full of her festering stinking excretions. It's quite a turn off from staying over at her place!

17-09-2005, 07:36	#15
dmuk Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 6,713 Blog Entries: 4	I drink a shed of load of water a day anyway, so i flush after 2 trips, since mine is usually clear, not yellow. How anyone could leave yellow pee in their toilet is beyond me, the smell of a bowl full of stale urine is vile!

17-09-2005, 07:57	#16
jesaya Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: My green valley in South Wales Services: Liberal and Proud Posts: 15,537	Just started doing this and it is not as gross as I had thought it would be. I confess I put a few drops of Toilet Duck in after I have been... no doubt I am saving water but also now destroying something else with extra bleach. shyfoxcub - I love your game and am going to suggest it to her indoors!

17-09-2005, 13:47	#18
agog Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: London Posts: 671	I couldn't leave urine in the toilet bowl for any length of time, but if hubby or I are using the toilet shortly after the other, there's: "Are you just weeing? Don't flush!" Seems like a fair compromise

17-09-2005, 15:23	#19
Spot Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Norwich, Tacolneston tx Services: Namesco Broadband, Freeview, FTA DSat, DAB. Posts: 12,687	Those guys on that programme were unbelievable - did you see the clothes they put in the bin - they looked almost new, yet they didn't want to take them to a charity shop!

17-09-2005, 15:46	#20
ikkleosu Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Dundee, Scotland Services: Evil BT Home Hub Broadband, BT Vision and SKY basic Posts: 5,548	My dad always did this, and I've kind of carried it on. Especially as I'm the only one really using the upstairs lou. I leave it maybe till I've been twice to flush. We also have the night time rule because the pipes go through 2 bedrooms and would wake the whole house with a flush. It is not pleasant first thing but as long as the lid is down, you have a good flush and a decent toilet cleaner flush thing, it's fine. Urine is sterile when it leaves your body so i don't see a big problem.