Originally published at: How Asheville, NC volunteers are flushing the town's toilets without running water - Boing Boing
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I’ve been through this, when TX had the first severe freeze in 2021. Our water mains froze so we couldn’t flush our toilets but thankfully i collected enough water before the water cut off to get the toilets to flush. My SO was absolutely horrified about having to manually pour water down the toilet 
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Every house in my neighborhood is entirely supplied with water from our individual wells, so we keep buckets of water handy in case the power drops for more than a couple of hours.
If we get word of severe storms coming, we’ll fill the bathtub for a reserve.
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This is the way. Fill the bathtub to the brim before the storm hits. Last time we had this sort of emergency, we also had a water delivery service, so we also filled 3-4 dispenser bottles as well.
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My dad was getting rid of some fish tank water and opted for the toilet once, flushing it. I was shocked that worked!
Also, you COULD have put it in the tank and flushed it with the handle. 
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You don’t realise how quickly the lifestyle benefits of modern civilisation vanish until you get a water or electricity cut lasting at least a day.
I can’t imagine what it’s like to go without clean water for 2 weeks.
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Really? How did they think toilets work? The tank is just a bucket of water kept at the ready, basically. Older San Francisco homes have a washing-up sink on top of the tank, to re-use the grey water for flushes. Far more sensible to me to use tank or a bucket of grey than potable water.
No doubt this is what libr’ul woke mind-virus water-conservative California living has done to me.
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Japanese toilets often have a hand basin on top of the cistern also. It’s very sensible to use the water twice.
I’m on metered water now, when previously I was charged on the basis of an annual estimate from house size. It’s done three things for me:
- Increased my bills a lot.
- Made me think that I should save water.
- Made me regret that there are so few water saving devices available in the UK. I’ve only got a couple of rainwater butts.
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We live in the coast with brackish water creeks and inlets close at hand. Before our last major hurricane a fellow teacher friend had the kids take notes on how to use the toilet if the water is off. Bathtub was in the list - but more importantly— just go down to the creek and fill your buckets.
It ended up being a major storm - shutting off city water for a week. When school finally came in session again - the parents of her students sent thank you notes for providing key knowledge.
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The truly most amazing thing is the collective force of humans to do good for each other in a time of crisis.
Go Gray Water Volunteers! 
May we sing you songs of praise for generations to come!
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Three plastic bags and some sawdust would solve the problem. One to plug the s trap, one to line the bowl, and one full of sawdust next to the toilet.
Civilisation is not actually completely necessary. We can use the old ways too.
All my love to Ashville folks, hang in there.
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Living in an old home with finicky plumbing that has backed up on holidays, we since invested in a bedside toilet seat and frame with a catch-bowl, and have a supply of disposable bags on hand. A lifesaver when the kids were small and “don’t flush!” was the rule.
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Which reminds me, there is also a bottom drain on our tank water heater, so we can also draw from it for days - drinkable water.
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Very true. I’ve been to a couple of places where they had eco-friendly zero flush lavatories. Basically a plank with a hole over a long fall pit. You had to chuck some wood chippings or something down the hole after doing your business. It seemed to work pretty well. That was out in the countryside, of course.
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Maybe not so drinkable if you’ve never flushed your water heater!
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