Plumbing Connection 2-2015

52 / 132

5 2 PLUMBING CONNECTION WINTER 2015
RIMLESS TOILETS – KNOWTHE FACTS
WHEN IT COMES TO ACHIEVING PERFECTION, THE GERMANS LEAVE NOTHING UNTURNED. JEFF PATCHELL
EXAMINES SOME OF THE LATEST RESEARCH UNDERTAKEN ON RIMLESS TOILETS AND EXPLAINS WHAT IT MEANS
FOR THE ADOPTION OF THE TECHNOLOGY IN AUSTRALIA.
A laboratory-style working stand staffed with lab
technicians explained the various Esslingen test procedures
to interested ISH visitors.
I SH is a remarkable event that often showcases
interesting concept products that don’t always make
their way to commercialisation. Depending on buyer
reaction at ISH, some ideas are simply scrapped or at best
reworked for the next ISH.
If you refer to my report on the 2013 ISH (Plumbing
Connection Winter edition 2013), one of the more
interesting new product introductions I noted was the
rimless toilet, which promised easier cleaning as well as
some sleek new designs.
That was an idea that had instant appeal for hotels,
hospitals and the residential market. Not to mention all of
the housewives and cleaners who would love to throw away
the Toilet Duck dispenser.
Toto claim to have been playing around with rimless toilet
technology/design since 2002 and we’d believe that, as the
Japanese consumer is pretty fussy about cleanliness.
At the 2013 ISH event there were a couple of rimless
models from well-known European brands, so it was not
surprising that virtually all major brands at this years’ ISH
had rimless models on their sanitary-ware cat-walk parade.
However, evidently there have been some questions
raised on the performance of these new designs that is
not as straight forward as it may seem. It isn’t just a pretty
design initiative.
The effect on bowl flushing performance (at different
volumes of flush) and the control of over-spray are clearly
critical issues, particularly if you happen to get them wrong.
Alert to the confusion in the plumbing market about these
new products drove SBZ magazine (a German plumbing
industry trade magazine similar to Plumbing Connection) to
team up with Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, near
Stuttgart, to create an independent test program which
put the various brands through a series of rated tests, to
confirm their functional and hygienic performance.
All in all, 32 models from 9 of the major brands
were reviewed and SBZ hosted a major
technical working stand at this years’
ISH, demonstrating how the
testing was implemented and
the results achieved.
We don’t have room here to
re-publish the whole testing
story in English and at best we’ve
relied on the translation services of Mr
Google from German text to English (which also brings up
some funny translations).
However, for those interested in more detail, go to our
website at where we
have detailed the English translation and a direct link to the
original story in SBZ, which features all the test pictures and
performance charts.
Overall, from what I could determine, the testing program
highlights the importance of good product Standards,
particularly when it comes to new technology/design that
is going to be picked up by a number of manufacturers in a
market.
As per usual, there are far more factors to consider than
what might first appear on the surface.
There is currently no DIN Standard written specifically for