Lazy Toilet

DEAR TIM: I have a toilet that flushes very slow. It seems to just swirl around and whatever is in the bowl takes two, sometimes three flushes to go down. Any suggestions? Terry R. Minor New Eagle, PA

DEAR TERRY: The first thing I would do is pour a 5 gallon bucket of water down the toilet as fast as possible. If the toilet and drain line are free of clogs, the level of the water in the bowl will not rise as you rapidly pour the water into the bowl. The water from the bucket will leave the bowl faster than a speeding bullet.

Once you are certain there are no clogs, take the tank lid off the toilet and lift up the flapper valve in the tank with your hand. Open it fully and keep it open until all the water leaves the tank. If you get a good flush, then this tells me the flapper valve is not opening fully and/or it is closing too quickly before all water leaves the tank.

If the toilet still flushes slow, then you may have a lime buildup in the holes under the bowl rim or the siphon jet hole in the base of the bowl.

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