This is actually a story about how if you want something right, sometimes you have to do it yourself...

We are on a septic system, and when we moved into our house in 1991, I had both of the old toilets replaced them with onces that had these high pressure tanks and flush with almost no water.

They worked great for years, but at some point, the one in the front that gets most of the action started not to flush well. It would take two or three times to get the job done.

I don't know anything about these things, so I called a plumber.

He came out and looked at the toilet and then called another plumber with his same company. They both pondered the thing, and then came out and told me that I needed an entire new toilet, and it was going to cost $927.00.

I almost fell over in shock, and asked them if they couldn't just replace the pressure unit? They said no, it had nothing to do with that. The problem was that there was a lot of "sediment" built up in the system, and the whole toilet needed to be replaced.

I couldn't believe this, since I had fiddled with the flusher, and noticed that it seemed to fill very slowly, but if you flushed it right after it filled, it would flush pretty well. But, if you waited a few minutes, it didn't flush well at all. It just seemed to me that it was not maintaining pressure.

I told the guy that I needed to think about it, suspecting he was trying to rip us off. He gave me a bill for $47.00 for diagnosing the problem, and told me that if we decided to get the toilet put in by them, they would credit the $47.00 to the job. I went ahead and paid it, but used a credit card because I know that it gives a consumer certain protection.

Today, I had some time, so I took the lid off the tank and noted the brand and model number of the pressure tank. Sloan Flushmate 501-B. Then I went on the internet and found that they actually had a website called "flushmate.com".

The website had a PDF file on how to troubleshoot the 501-B. The first thing it said was to check the air intake. Following the instructions, I shut off the water supply to the toilet and removed a cap. it looked fine. So, I put the cap back on, and turned the water supply back on.

Then I noticed that there was NO sound of water going into the tank at all, even though I had the water turned on full blast.

So, I asked Jane to get me a pan to catch the water, and I turned the supply back off and unscrewed the supply hose from the tank. Some water came out of the line, along with what looked like little black rocks.

I got a wrench and undid the supply line from where it attached to the dealie that attaches to the wall (see, I really am NOT a plumber).

Water started to trickle from the shut off valve, and more little black rocks fell out of the hose.

I took the hose to the sink and got a fork and used one of the tines to poke at the opening, and a bunch of little black rocks came out of the little hole. Then I blew into the other side of the line and it cleared completely out.

I went and attached the line back to the wall and the toilet, turned the water back on and guess what?

It flushed better than it did when it was brand new!

I have contacted the plumbing company and requested a refund of my $47.00 for the so-called diagnostic. I'm really glad that I didn't just have them replace the toilet and pay the $927.00. I would have never figured out what crooks they were.

I'm glad I was able to fix the problem myself, but I'm really sorry that consumers are the target of these so-called professionals who are really just criminals. Any professional Plumber should have checked to see if the tank was getting enough water pressure. I don't accept that it was a mistake at all.