A: Bob, I'm getting up (Off my chair.) and giving you a standing ovation for wanting to change out your old water guzzling toilet for a new high efficiency model! Changing from an old 3.5 gallon per flush toilet to a new HET that uses 1.3 GPF or less can save over 15 thousand gallons of water per year, per toilet.

The good news is that these new HETs are designed from the bottom up to flush with more power, so you won't even have to change your lifestyle. As far as being flapperless, yes, most of these new toilets have switched from using a traditional flapper to a more modern type of flushing system.

For instance, some new HETs use an "eco-smart tower" instead of a flapper. Flushing towers look like a large vertical cylinder inside the toilet tank where the flapper used to be. The tower is lifted up by a chain, but instead of using a sideways hinging motion like a flapper, the cylinder is lifted straight up and instantly delivers a faster flush to the bowl.

Another type of high efficiency flushing system is called an "air assist" toilet. This type of toilet has a sealed chamber inside the toilet tank to hold the water. When the water fills the chamber, air cannot escape and it's pressurized by the home's water pressure. When you flush the toilet, gravity and compressed air pull and push the water at the same time, and this action creates a very powerful flush as well.

I only mentioned these two types as good examples of how a toilet can be flapperless. But look around -- other new flapperless systems are available. Some with features like "dual flush," where you choose the amount of water to flush with, and some toilets even have electric motors!

Who knows -- at this pace, someday we may all be driving around on our toilets!