I have 2 dual-flush toilets, a Toto Aquia, and an Omega(similar to the Senry in appearance and flush-type). The Toto works flawlessly. We rarely use the higher-volume flush and never have to double flush. The other toilet is a piece of junk that can't manage a normal flush - forget about the lower-volume flush. It actually pushes stuff back up into the toilet bowl before attempting (largely unsuccessfully) to flush it. Yuck! I will be replacing it with an Aquia.

Thanks, Alice. From what I hear/read, it almost seems like Totos are the only low-flow toilet that actually work. But I can't find a Toto that comes in black (I find their website hard to navigate by "color"). We just got a really fun sink on e-Bay (we've never bought anything big that way - can't wait to see if we gambled well or foolishly) and it has a black vessel. We were thinking of getting a toilet to match for our remodeled long/narrow powder room. Anyone know of a black toilet that really works (I value function, my wife is the "appearance" person)?

You could go with a black and white color scheme instead of just black...that is, not all the fixtures in your bathroom need to be black. You can have a white toilet...We had a bathroom that had a white shower, white sink/countertop on a vanity painted black, and black toilet. That was fine.

My opinion.

-Roger

Someone on this site (arlinek?) has a black Aquia.

I did a search for that member and came up empty. And the Toto website doesn't list any black options for an Aquia that I can see.

Here's the link to the GW thread with the black Aquia. Maybe Arlinek can tell you where she purchased her toilet.

Terry Love's website has them:

http://www.easycarts.net/ecarts/terrylove/Toto_Toilets.html

it's about 2/3 down the page. Much pricier than the white.

Thanks, Alice. The strange thing is (and I've heard this about Toto before) the Toto website doesn't list this toilet as coming in black. If you do a search for the exact model number of the black toilet on Toto's website, it doesn't come up. But, clearly, Terry Love has it in black so it must be manufactured. DW will be thrilled to learn of this.

Thanks for all the helpful advice from you all. It allowed me to understand enough that I could go shopping and ask decent questions. So, I thought I'd share with you (and others) what I learned from speaking with sales people.

First, there is pretty wide agreement that Totos are very reliable performers. For our family's needs, we don't need all the bells-and-whistles offered on some Toto models (e.g., a lid that opens when it senses you coming near), so my shopping search is already limited. We are remodeling our kitchen and powder room and want to replace our existing low-flow (1.6) American Standard that has overflowed a number of times (and then leaks into the basement). I have been looking at the Aquia (a dual flush model) and the Ultramax. One plumbing supply guy who sounded like he really knew his stuff told me that I should get the Ultramax if my goal was to avoid problem situations. The Ultramax is a one-piece toilet that has a bigger (3") flush valve. The water shoots out, directly pushing waste towards the drain. The Ultramax uses Toto's G-Max. New Toto models (Guinevere and Soiree) that have come out use the same general system, but have added what they call a "double cyclone" flushing system. If I understood correctly, this incorporates the g-max system on the bottom and a circular washing action released from the top (supposedly to clean the bowl better). Of course, it costs more. BTW, Toto's website doesn't list the Ultramax coming in black (our choice), but all the dealers say they can order it from Toto that way (again, more money). Terry Love's (very helpful) website has a great price on this toilet, but limited shipping (you can get it in his local Seattle/Kings Co (Washington state) area or he lists a few other "pick-up points" (Brooklyn, NY, Claremont, CA, Anchorage, AK).

On the other hand, the dual flush Aquila saves more water (allowing an option of a .9 gal flush or a 1.6). Seems really cool and it might work for those "difficult situations," but we are leaning towards the more "sure thing" option of the Ultramax.

Hope this helps somebody out there!

R2R

Hi R2R,

I had a long reply and question typed out the other day, but I guess it didn't post. I've been searching online for reviews of the Senry toilet as well. The black colour is not a requirement of ours, but we are very interested in the dual flush. The Senry toilet is the only dual flush we've found locally on demo. They had it setup against a regular flush Kohler and it appeared to flush faster and with more coverage. I must say the half flush was better than I would have expected.

Unfortunately, there's no other way to compare it against some of the highly recommended toilets like the Toto as they all seem to be special order. The Home Depot did have some dual flush toilets once, but it wasn't a regularly stocked unit (don't remember the brand, but it wasn't one of the major ones) and they didn't have much to comment about them. Based on what you've researched, do you feel it's worth the extra hassle (and cost) to special order vs. getting the Senry locally?

Thanks,
-MN

MN,

First, you need to know that I am no expert on this stuff. However, I have worked hard to become self-taught based on intense research (that I'm guessing many people on this site do to survive replacing/remodleing their homes). So, for what it's worth...

I've received one message from someone that a toilet similar to a Senry didn't work well. But - that's one person's experience and it *wasn't* a Senry. From what I've learned, Toto is qualitatively different from other toilets. The engineering of their toilets make them much more likely to function properly. Again, I'd check Terry Love's website (mentioned above) and surf around a bit. I'm including a link that gives a great explanation of Toto's functioning (go down to comment #9).

Personally, I think of toilets and mattresses as items that are well-worth purchasing wisely. They are important parts of our daily lives. A couple of extra bucks spent now are well-worth being happy with your purchase. So, I'd go for the Toto, even without seeing it work (your store had it hooked up?! How cool is that!). If you are greatly concerned, I guess you could carefully choose a retailer that has a liberal return policy in case you don't like your final selection.

One final word - we are going for the Ultramax as the toilet will be used by our guests as well as ourselves. I would consider the dual-flush Toto (which has a somewhat lesser flushing mechanism) if we were buying something for our master bathroom.

In any case, good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Info from Terry Love's website

Dual flushers are a great way to save water. I lived in Japan for 13 yearts and they had them there a long time ago. In fact they took it one step further.

As you flushed, the water came out of a tap placerd above the toilet tank, which was designed as a basin, and you washed your hands before it went into to tank for the next flush... top that. I wish I had brough some of those back with me.

Check out the best place in the world for doing th duty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilets_in_Japan

Andy Christensen

R2R, wow thanks for the really quick reply..I've been busy with work and haven't checked it until now. The dual flush design is really appealing to us, as we are looking to eventually replace all the old 13L! toilets in our house. We've decided to try the Senry model in one of the baths first, and make a selection later for the other bathrooms depending on how it actually performs for us. Thanks again for your insight.

-MN

We installed a Toto Aquia a year ago as part of a bathroom remodel and we love it. At first we explained to our kids that the two different buttons were for "#1" and "#2", but we quickly found that the .9 gallon button works for just about everything so we rarely have to use the 1.6 gallon button. The only thing you should know about the Aquia is that it does have a small water spot and so (how to phrase this in a delicate manner) if you sit too far forward on the seat and your aim with #2 is off a bit there is a bit of clean-up issue down inside the bowl. This doesn't happen too often with adults but seems to happen more with our children. However, it doesn't bother me too much since, let's be honest, it's a toilet and you have to clean the darn thing anyway on a fairly regular basis. It's a very small drawback to an otherwise fantastic toilet.

We have a Caroma dual flush toilet and it works great.

Our plumbing supply store recommends them over Toto, as they are just as reliable (and I think a little less expensive).

Here is a link that might be useful: Caroma toilet

Every one I used in Australia (where they are mandatory) during several months worked fine.

My Toto Aquia was installed yesterday, and because I had lacked a toilet for over a week, I'm very excited to have one again, and I have made several...er...

So far, great flushing ability with both the .9 and 1.6. The toilet is a little louder than it was with the demo unit, and the "trickling" might eventually be a little irritating, but it's a great looking toilet, still much quieter than my old siphon jet, flushes great, and got me a rebate with my local utilities district. I'd buy it again, based on my experience so far.

We have 3 Toto Aquias. I am disappointed and wouldn't buy them again owing to difficulty with bowl streaking and cleanliness. The flushing mechanism is absolutely fine. The Aquia's diminutive water spot make it challenging to hit just the water, and not the bowl directly, particularly for children. So, no, I don't end up flushing more than once, but I must clean the bowl much more often than I would like.

One way to lessen the problem is to have the kids or whoever lay a strip of toilet paper from the waterline up past the usual "target area". You can even provide a spritzer bottle to "secure" the paper and increase the "fun factor". Sometimes the problem isn't so much an aiming difficulty as it is a matter of the user's most comfortable spot on the seat not lining up exactly with the water spot.

I don't know of any black dual flushing toilets that flush well as Toto, Duravit nor Villeroy & Boch have them in that color