The South Australian bathroom accessories company Caroma was known for being an innovative company. Its founder, Charles Rothauser, developed the first one-piece plastic toilet cistern (the water tank above the toilet bowl) in the late 1950s. In 1981, Caroma launched the first effective dual flush toilet. Two flush buttons operated the Caroma model–one for a full flush (11 litres) to remove faeces and the other for a reduced flush (5.5 litres) for urine. Others had previously developed a dual flush mechanism, but it was operated by only one flush button; pressed quickly for a reduced flush or held down for the full flush cycle. If the button was not depressed for long enough, the flush was not effective. Caroma also redesigned toilet bowl so that less water might be required to remove the waste effectively. The Caroma dual flush toilet was such an efficient water-saving device that all Australian states, other than New South Wales, soon introduced legislation to make the instalation of dual flush toilets compulsory in all new buildings.
Dual Flush Toilet
