Vacuum toilets use a vacuum to flush, requiring little or no water. They are low odor and efficient, and some use liquid sanitizers. Flushing while sitting is not recommended due to rare but serious risks. Pressure toilets also reduce water usage and can be installed in conventional toilets.
Vacuum toilets are toilets that use a vacuum to flush, rather than gravity alone. There are different types of vacuum toilets, ranging from toilets connected to vacuum sewer systems to toilets with a vacuum assist system, which creates pressure to help flush the contents of a toilet with minimal water usage. Anyone who has flown on an airplane is probably familiar with the vacuum toilet, and these toilets also appear on boats and in personal homes.
The way a vacuum toilet works is pretty simple. The toilet is hooked up to a vacuum sewer system, which may consist of a single sewer tank or a series of sewer lines. When someone uses the toilet and flushes it, the action of the flush opens a valve in the toilet and the vacuum cleaner sucks up the contents of the toilet for treatment.
Because the vacuum involved is extremely powerful, a vacuum toilet requires little or no water. Some use liquid sanitizers instead of water to keep the bathroom relatively clean. Vacuum toilets are often very low odor and are much more efficient with water than regular toilets, as you can imagine. For this reason, some people like to install vacuum toilets in their homes to increase water efficiency.
Incidentally, according to urban legend researchers at Straight Dope, flushing the vacuum toilet while sitting in the seat is not recommended. While injuries are rare, there is a risk of organ prolapse and serious damage to the intestines caused by the power of the vacuum literally sucking out part of the intestines. This risk is increased for people with larger funds. Fortunately, such cases are extremely unusual, but in the opinion of this wiseGEEK writer, it is better to be safe than sorry.
A related concept is the pressure toilet, which pressurizes water for flushing, thus also greatly reducing the amount of water needed to flush. Pressure toilets can be connected to regular sewage systems and are often used in homes and businesses. A number of companies make pressure assist modules that can be installed in conventional toilets to increase their efficiency.
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