9 min read · Oct 18, 2020
--
While you might not think such a mundane topic as flushing water-closets in Italy merits a how to post, you would be wrong. The simple act of going to the toilet in Italy is not always as straightforward as it may seem, or should be.
There are several ways in which water-closets in Italy may be encouraged to do their things, but no two loos, to use the British English term for the john, ever seem to be the same.
Here is a list of the various types of flushes in use in Italy — nine of them! One sincerely hopes this how to flush guide may enhance your life or stay in Italy by rendering the act of flushing a mite simpler.
The flush is quite visibly and logically located slap bang in the center of the water tank which sits above and behind the bowl — except there may well be two buttons to press.
Pressing the bigger one will induce a longish gusher of a flush which is adept at dispatching, er, larger items.
Next to the big rocker will probably be a smaller one. Pressing this will release less of a gush and more of a trickle in a rather half-hearted attempt to see off liquid waste and save some water.
Sometimes, neither the bigger or the smaller buttons will function. Enter flush type two.
After discovering that the buttons don’t work, look around. You may spot a kind of extended “accelerator pedal” sticking out from one side on the floor beneath the toilet bowl. Stamping on the pedal should produce that flushing sensation and off you can go.
In the absence of a Type 1 flush, and should a quick glance around not reveal a Type 2 accelerator pedal, look at the left or right-hand walls — often behind your behind at around knee level. There may well be a large white button lurking there. Press this and flushing success is, generally, assured.
Sometimes Type 3 wall button flushes have two buttons, like the buttons one might find on the Type 1 water tank above and behind the toilet. The smaller button, if it works, will induce a trickle flush, whereas the larger one, if it works, will produce enough of a flush to see off stubborn floaters.
