Life they say is shitty but I am guessing we all don’t want to drown in it. [Six out of ten people in the world do not have access to water closet this means about 4.2billion people need a flush toilet desperately.](http://googleweblight.com/i?u=http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/02/22/_60_percent_of_the_world_population_still_without_toilets.html&grqid=pIPHNAmO&hl=en-NG) Many of us steemians, in our houses, or rooms, have a flush toilet, or flush lavatory, or a water closet as it is popularly called. 
 ![image](https://img.esteem.ws/ib9fqdkc2y.jpg)<br><center>A picture of my water closet</center></br>

The big question is, how does this water take the shit away? How does the water in the toilet bowl dry up after a few weeks? Why doesn’t the water disappear after it’s filled? 

>This was the thought in my head as a young Nigerian kid when my mum asks me to be am man and start taking care of my mess. Eventually, I saw it as a usual thing I didn’t find out then. Now steemit has made me productive so I decided to find out and share with the steemit community.

I picked up my phone and did some research. This coupled with my experience as an intern in debour engineering services last year.
 ![image](https://img.esteem.ws/o7vamdxxp5.jpg)<br><center>[Image showing parts of the water closet](Wikipedia.com)</center></br>


WHAT IS A TOILET BOWL?
A toilet bowl is where you defecate or pass out human waste. Where you sit is regarded as the toilet seat. Many are ceramics and others are made of materials such as steel or gold or plastic. 

Toilet bowls also have different shapes:
●	Compact bowl which is circular or square-shaped
●	Elongated bowls which could be oval or rectangular in shape
>[“The average toilet bowl size in length is mostly within the range of 14 to 14.5 inches wide but there are some with sizes up to 16.5 inches. The compact toilet bowl length tends to be 2 inches shorter in length than toilet with elongated bowls compact size are usually 16 to 17 inches long while elongated toilets bowl measures from 18 to 19 inches long.”](http://homability.com/best-toilet-bowl-shape/)

 ![image](https://img.esteem.ws/63n185jxt2.jpg)<br><center>An elongated toilet bowl</center></br>

HISTORY OF THE FLUSH TOILET
According to [wikihow](https://en.m.wikibooks.org) the flush toilets were first used in parts of India and Pakistan about 2700 years ago but  now it is being used everywhere in the world. In 1775, Alexander Cummings developed the “S” trap which is still being used everywhere today. The standing water is used to seal the bowl outlet and prevent foul air from escaping from the sewer. His design had a sliding valve in the bowl outlet above the trap.

HOW THE  FLUSH TOILET WORKS
There is the manually flushed toilet and the water closet or toilet lavatory or flush toilet. But both the manually flushed toilet and the flush lavatory work the same way. They all operate on the principle of gravity. 

These toilet bowls have several configurations; they usually incorporate an “S”, “U”, “J” or “P” shaped configuration. 
 ![image](https://img.esteem.ws/fzz7lfeq2o.jpg)<br><center>[A picture showing how a water closet looks like](Wikipedia.com)</center></br>


Let’s take an example using the picture shown above. It’s an “S” shaped bowl even though the “S” is bent sideways like an “N” shape. The upper part of the “S” is called the trap, it holds the little amount of water and the waste deposited in the bowl. During defecation, the Archimedes’ principle occurs making the volume of water increase. 
When the toilet is flushed manually, the bucket is raised and water is allowed to fall through gravity into the inverted “S” shape, pushing the waste above the trap into the pipe already bent to either the water treatment plant or to the septic tank. As the volume of water in the bucket is reduced, the last amount which cannot push over the trap is left in the toilet bowl. The waste would be gone.
Let’s talk about the water closet. After several valves have controlled the inflow of water into the tank. When you press the release valve or flush the toilet using the lever or button provided, a valve is opened and the water falls through gravity allowing the water to rush down the inner part of the bowl. The whirling of the water in the volume pushes it up the trap allowing for the waste to fall the other way. The reducing volume fills up in the part you and I can see (i.e. the toilet bowl) for hygienic purpose.
This same principle applies for other shapes of the toilet bowl. In my apartment, I use the “U” shaped elongated water closet even though I flush manually into the septic tank provided.
One major difference between the manually flushed toilet and the water closet is that the water closet prevents water wastage and it is easy to use and efficient.
The advantage of the water closet is being felt around the world.
●	It has prevented several toilet infections
●	More personal hygiene 
●	Management of waste through water treatment plants as water is being recycled again for use.
●	The water closet has built high standard all around the world.
Well, the shit goes into the water treatment plant or the septic tank to be used as biogas for power generation or agricultural development of plants so they can grow well when applied to the soil. I hope we have been able to understand how the water closet works when you flush waste down the drain. So the question, WHERE AND HOW DOES THE SHIT GO? Is answered.  
 ![image](https://img.esteem.ws/n3nzyrdm8h.jpg)<br><center>[image showing compost making](www.alamy.com)</center></br>
 ![image](https://img.esteem.ws/ixc1uq79k6.jpg)<br><center>[A waste treatment plant](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT0dKQXj--TvW_vfrMdDJcCKjoEU31BZH78cVO904BDH-qo1_P2yw) </center></br>


Thanks for reading and I wish you a merry Christmas in advance. As much as I want a Christmas gift, I am yet to receive any, my doors are still open. lol have a wonderful celebration.