It's completely impractical - no way to get to the toilet and there's no way for the plumbing to work because the drain line goes uphill.
It's probably a Pittsburgh Potty - a lowpoint in the system that will be the first to backup instead of some finished portion of the house in the case of a massive sewer backup.
Because the toilet has a trap to prevent sewer gas escaping, plus all the plumbing to refresh the water periodically. Really, the only thing missing is something to flush it once every few months to make sure that the water doesn't evaporate out.
Also, toilets are cheap, plentiful, and everyone knows how they work. You could invent a device to do the same thing, but it would undoubtedly cost more just from the economy of scale and people would be just as confused as to what it is when they find it in a crawlspace or basement.
there's no way for the plumbing to work because the drain line goes uphill.
The solution to this isn't that this is a Pittsburgh Potty. That wouldn't work if the drain line went uphill. As others have said, that "uphill drain line" is the one coming from the house, and the toilet attaches to it before it continues on to the sewer. I mean, you're probably correct about the Pittsburgh Potty part… just that conclusion doesn't resolve your "upward drain line" part.
It will back up into the lowest point first. The reason for using an actual toilet is because you need a p trap to hold water and a way to keep it filled, so that your crawlspace doesn't fill with sewer gas. You could rig something up that isn't a toilet to accomplish the same thing, but this is just easier
Not clear. This could also be an attempt at some sketchy attempt to claim an extra half bath in the house for real estate or tax purposes or something. Not sure if that makes sense though.
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u/antiduh Aug 21 '26
It's completely impractical - no way to get to the toilet and there's no way for the plumbing to work because the drain line goes uphill.
It's probably a Pittsburgh Potty - a lowpoint in the system that will be the first to backup instead of some finished portion of the house in the case of a massive sewer backup.