Up until now, I was only aware of one variety of flush that could be construed as “friendly,” and that’s the infamous “courtesy flush” much appreciated by users of proximal stalls in public restrooms. But today’s post introduces me to a second incarnation, as designer Jang Woo-seok’s Eco Toilet offers the enlightened option of an environmentally-friendly flush.

Eco Toilet. Designed by Jang Woo-seok.

Jang Woo-seok’s Eco Toilet is a Simple, Smart Water Saver

Yes, a flush can be environmentally friendly, as it turns out. All it takes is to find a pre-used source of water. And the most readily-accessible fount around—if you’ll pardon the pun—is water from the very same source’s washbasin.

Woo-seok’s Eco Toilet capitalizes on this intuitive notion. The Eco Toilet is, essentially, divvied up into three different compartments—a washbasin, a dual-compartment tank, and a modern streamlined toilet bowl. The system simply employs gravity and a goodly dose of common sense to employ grey water in the flushing capacity.

Waste water from basin use drains down one of the two halves of the housing tank. When said half is full, an LED indicator light illumines, tipping off the user that the tank is sufficiently full to employ the source of 100% pre-used water for the big finish, as it were.

The dual-capacity tank keeps this particular toilet perpetually in service. For, much like the millennial incarnation of solar power—in which users take advantage of both the traditional and alternative sources—the Eco Toilet’s primary tank is always in service. If the wastewater from the basin hasn’t yet filled tank#2, users simply access the ready supply of water from tank#1.

About the Designer: An Industrial Designer from South Korea, Jang Woo-seok’s contributions to water conservation include the eminently sensible Eco Toilet, the humorous King of Urinal, and the gravity powered Eco Bath. Among the designer’s myriad clever designs, highlights include the ultra-thin Biker Chair and the visually and texturally fascinating Twist Bench.