Toilets: types, traps and flush systems

What a toilet (WC) is made of

A flush toilet, or WC (water closet), works with three parts: the pan or bowl, a trap that keeps water standing in its bend, and a cistern that stores the flush. According to Parryware’s guide to traps, the water left in the bend after each flush is what blocks sewer odours. The seat and cover are fitted on top; some pans are sold with them, some without.

A wc toilet or water closet toilet in most searches is the sitting, western toilet. The other family is the squat toilet, a pan at floor level that Wikipedia’s article on squat toilets describes as particularly common in some Asian and African countries.

Toilet types and how they differ

Geberit’s guide to toilet types sorts them by how the pan is fixed and where the cistern goes. That is the useful way to compare types of toilets in Tanzania too, because both choices decide the plumbing and the wall work.

Toilet types and how they differ

Type	How the pan is fixed	Where the cistern is
Close-coupled	stands on the floor	attached to the back of the pan, one unit
Back-to-wall	floor toilet, pushed against the wall	hidden behind the wall
Low-level	stands on the floor	on the wall above, joined by a visible flush pipe
Wall-hung	hangs on a frame inside the wall, floor below stays clear	inside the same frame
Comfort	floor or wall	any
Shower toilet	floor or wall	any
Squat	pan at floor level	with or without cistern

P-trap or S-trap: check the drain first

The trap decides which toilet bowls can go into your bathroom at all. Parryware describes the P-trap as a horizontal outlet that joins a drain in the wall; wall-hung pans use it, as do floor pans with a wall outlet. The S-trap has a vertical outlet that drops into a drain in the floor, where the waste pipe runs below the slab.

Look at the existing pipe before choosing a model: out of the floor means an S-trap pan, out of the wall a P-trap pan. The guide gives no standard distances, so take them from the data sheet of the exact pan.

Toilet cisterns and flush volume

The US Environmental Protection Agency puts toilets at nearly 30% of indoor water use in an average American home. Its WaterSense label goes to models using 1.28 gallons per flush or less, about 4.8 litres. The US federal limit is 1.6 gallons, about 6.1 litres, and older models can use up to 6 gallons, about 22.7 litres (litre figures are our conversion).

Toilet cisterns come in two forms. An exposed cistern sits on the pan or on the wall; Geberit says it is quicker to install and suits retrofits. A concealed cistern is built into a frame or wall, and Geberit notes that it is serviced through the flush plate without tools. Dual-flush plates have two buttons: one for a full flush and one for a reduced flush.

Seats, covers and smart toilet features

Geberit lists soft-close lids and quick-release seats among the features of current models. When you replace toilet covers, give the seller the model number of the pan. A smart toilet in Geberit’s terms is a shower toilet: on top of the warm-water spray it can add odour extraction, a warm-air dryer and an orientation light.

A wall-hung toilet in stock in Zanzibar

Kitovu sells one model from stock in Zanzibar, the JOMOO Wall-Hung Toilet 02355-00-2. The supplier documents show a white wall-hung pan with seat and cover, 565 × 375 × 350 mm, and a flush plate of 246 × 164 mm. Whether a concealed cistern and frame come with it is not confirmed yet.

Before you order:

1. Check that the drain comes out of the wall: a wall-hung pan uses a P-trap.
2. Plan the frame or wall that will carry the pan and hide the cistern; our page on wall-hung toilets sets out load and height figures from frame makers.
3. Ask on WhatsApp what is in the box before you build the wall.
4. For who makes it and what else the maker produces, see the JOMOO brand page.