We came across one of these the other day and are still not entirely sure what it is. It had “Fluidmaster” stamped into the top of the plastic tank at the red arrow, so we contacted their customer service department with this photo via online chat to get some information. But the customer service agent first refused to acknowledge that it was even their product, then begrudgingly backtracked to “it may have once been manufactured by us, but is no longer” when we noted that the company logo was embossed on top. Even then, he refused to provide any info or product history. We suspect that it was an unsuccessful contraption that is now an embarrassment to the company.

   It appears to be a tank-within-a-tank mechanism that reduces the amount of water used per flush. “I have seen a few different versions of this thing and never liked them,” according to our plumber friend, James Freeman. “I guess it’s a more sophisticated version of putting a brick or two in the tank to save water, which is what they used to do on the old three-gallon flush toilets.” 

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Here’s links to a collection of our other blog posts about “TOILETS”: 

• Why is there sand in the bottom of my toilet tank?  

• Why is there mold inside my toilet tank?    

• What are the pros and cons of a wall-mounted toilet?

• What are the minimum clearances around a toilet? 

• What is the little tank on top of the water heater for? 

• What is that big thing in the toilet tank? 

• Can I install a commercial (wall-mounted flushometer) toilet in my home? 

• Does a home inspector check toilets?

• What is the code required minimum height above a toilet? 

    Visit our PLUMBING page for other related blog posts on this subject, or go to the INDEX for a complete listing of all our articles.