One purpose is all that a toilet serves: We take our toilet for granted until it stops working. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to flush your toilet by pressing the handle. Unsightly odors and anxiety can be caused by a malfunctioning toilet.
One of these reasons is likely to cause your toilet not to flush:
- Toilet is blocked
- The tank’s water level is too low
- Lift chain won’t turn
- The rubber flapper on the toilet does not form a tight seal
You will need to learn how to flush your toilet manually if it won’t flush or you are unable to repair it immediately. It is easy to flush a toilet manually, even if you have no water.
Three ways to manually flush a toilet
These three manual flushing techniques can fix a malfunctioning toilet.
1. Put a bucket of water in the toilet bowl
The easiest way to flush your toilet manually is to pour a bucket of water in the bowl. A bucket with a gallon to two gallons of water is all you need. To start the flushing cycle, older toilets might require 3-5 gallons.
Manually flush your toilet
- Fill a bucket at least with one gallon of water
- Start by slowly pouring the water in the bowl. Slowly increase speed and then dump the rest of the water into your bowl.
- When done correctly, the water will push the waste from the toilet through the pipes and the toilet will flush.
2. Put water in the toilet tank
Toilet problems can be caused by a problem within the toilet tank. Your water tank may have a problem if your toilet doesn’t flush. You can flush the problem manually by pouring water into the tank.
You will need to fill a bucket with water. To flush the toilet:
- Take off the cover for the toilet tank.
- The water should be poured into the tank until it reaches the water line or one inch below its edge. Your house’s toilet model will determine the exact amount of water required to flush the toilet.
- Press the flush lever. Move on to the next step if the toilet does not flush.
3. Pull the rubber flapper from the toilet tank
Your toilet tank’s rubber flapper plays an important role in flushing your toilet. The flapper in your toilet tank may need to replaced if pressing the handle does not cause a flush. To flush the toilet, you may need to pull the flapper up manually before replacing it.
This is how you do it:
- Take off the lid from the toilet tank.
- Grab the end of your chain that is not connected to the handle arm and slide a link on the hook at one end. Re-press the flush handle.
- If this doesn’t solve the problem, make sure that the flapper is properly seated above the tank’s opening. You should see water filling up the tank if it isn’t.
- If the tank is empty, you should check to make sure the chain is not loosening from the flapper. Reattach the chain if it has become loose.
If the toilet does not flush manually after following these steps, it may be time to replace the flapper.