Hack Your Toilet and Save Water
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 08.22.07
We have shown toilet lid sinks before; it makes so much sense to get a wash out of the water before it goes into the toilet tank. They are common in Japan and there are a couple of versions that you can buy, but Gregory Lavoie provides instructions in how to build one yourself. He says "I wanted this instructable to be simple enough that anyone could build it with basic tools and materials. I also tried to be material conscious with this project in that: many of the materials are recycled from other things (sheet wood and copper tubing) or second hand (metal bowl), and that it is put together using screws and friction fittings so when the sink has finished serving its purpose it can easily be taken apart and the parts can be recycled." ::Instructables via ::Lifehacker
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- 7 Green Methods to Unclog a Toilet...Plumber's Crack Optional
- How Thailand Taught Me to Give Up Toilet Paper for Good
- Is Your Toilet Wasting Water? Take These Quick Tests to Find Out
- The Week's Best DIY Projects: June 12-June 18
- Green Glossary: Carbon Sink
- The Week's Best DIY Projects: Kid-Friendly Coloring Books, Energy-Saving Chargers, and Woven Coasters
I had thought about doing this in my upstairs bathroom when our kids are old enough to sleep up there. We were remodeling the bathroom and I got rid of the old commode and replaced it with this one I found that the tank was integrated into the bowl instead of a seperate part so its real short, short enough that the standard bathroom sink could be drained right into the tank. ommode tanks have an overflow drain so there won't be an issue with just letting the sink drain right into it. Just need to drill/cut a hole near the top of the tank for the pipe to enter and replace the normal sink drain with stopper with an elbow to bring the drain over instead of down.
These toilet mods are such a great idea. Imagine the water savings if these were installed in all new homes.