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Comment by c0l0 | Hacker News Reader

Full-on Baader-Meinhof here, seeing this posted while I am at home/in the hospital (for two days about a week ago) for the second week because of a C. diff infection I got from an antibiotics treatment for the tonsillitis prior.

I do know for a fact that I never want to feel this sick again. If that requires me to keep the toilet lid closed whenever flushing for all eternity, I'll gladly do so - and I think you should, too. (I was actually advised to do that and flush 'carefully'/slowly, with the lid down, by my doctors, and took care to comply.)

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> flush 'carefully'/slowly

How does one flush "carefully/slowly"? The speed you press the handle doesn't change the pressure of the flush - at most it might extend it and waste water, by keeping the flapper open longer than necessary.

Instead press the handle rapidly and briefly to save water and still have a proper flush.

Extend it, use more water, and get fewer aerosols into the air. That's the point of his post.

If you have C. diff. and don't want to spread it, it's probably worth it to spend (not waste, spend) the extra water for a slower flush if your toilet will work that way.

That's .... not what will happen.

Instead you'll get the exact same regular violent flush, and then water will pour into the tank extending the time that water can aerosolsize, and worse, pushing any existing aerosols farther out into the room.

So basically that's the opposite of what you should do, if that's your goal.

Instead, reduce the flush time.

Try it: hold down the flush lever and time how long it takes before you can smell the water.

> hold down the flush lever

That's not what's being suggested. Slowly open the valve by slowly pressing the lever to let some water in before the valve pop all of the way open.

I don't understand what goal that will accomplish. You might wash the walls of the toilet slightly, but that's not where the bacteria are, they would be in the center, in the bulk of the material.

Plus toilets are designed to prevent you from doing that, they try very hard to be either fully closed, or fully open.

And, even if you succeeded, by releasing some water in advance, you reduce the pressure of the flush, which would elongate it, instead of rapidly removing the material, and time with water flowing = amount of aerosol.

This plan seems counterproductive.

I suspect you're used to much more modern toilets than the person you're replying to. Toilets from at least a decade ago in the USA don't feel like they're designed to try very hard to do anything contrary to the direct mechanical effect of you pushing down a lever.

Many (most?) toilets around where I live do let you exert "analog" control over the flushing process, at least when initiating it. On the one in my apartment, If I begin to press the flush button very gently, water will start flowing in at a very reduced rate (and carrying material with it down the drain without causing a splash), compared to when just pushing down the button without any consideration.

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