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Performance and Testing

ASME Testing

Toilet performance is governed by standards created by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), using test standards developed by volunteer committees made up of industry representatives. Essentially, toilets in the U.S. have been designed to flush ASME-standard plastic balls, plastic granules, paper balls, dye, sponges and drainline carry requirements.

What is the required ASME testing? Click here for full details.

MaP Testing*

An optional testing protocol to rate the flush performance of toilets, called Maximum Performance (MaP) testing, provides a quantitativeassessment of real toilet performance using reusable 50-gram “sausages” of a soybean paste encased in latex sleeves.

The Maximum Performance (MaP) testing project was developed to identify how well popular toilet models perform. The tests are conducted by flushing a combination of soybean paste, which is physically similar to human waste in its density and moisture, and toilet paper. In addition to using these paste/paper samples, all toilet samples are adjusted, where possible, to their rated flush volume (typically 6 litres/1.6 gallons) prior to testing to ensure a level playing field. Each toilet is then graded on its performance.

View the MaP Testing Slideshow - Click any image to enlarge MaP Testing Rig MaP Testing Media MaP Testing Media in Caseing MaP Testing Media in Water

MaP Protocol

The MaP test protocol is as follows:

All toilet fixtures are assembled, placed on the test stand, and connected to a municipal water supply (50 psi static pressure). Tank water levels are set to the waterline and flush volumes recorded. Adjustments are made, if necessary and where possible, to ensure all samples flush at their rated volume, generally 6 Lpf (1.6 gpf) for standard fixtures and less for HETs.

Testing is conducted by loading the fixture in 50g and 100g increments of test media until it fails to pass 100 percent of the media in four of five attempts. Four loosely crumpled balls of toilet paper (six sheets each) are included in each test run. The toilet paper used in testing has the following specifications: single ply toilet paper conforming to ASME A112.19.14–2006, section 3.2.4.1.

Click here to see the full MaP test protocol or here to see only the results.

Performance Benchmark

The original minimum performance benchmark adopted by MaP was 250 grams (250g) of waste. That is, a toilet should completely evacuate at least 250g of waste in a single flush. This value is based on the results of a British medical study that identified 250g as the average maximum fecal size of the male participants in the study. Thus, any toilet that meets or exceeds the 250g performance threshold should meet customer expectations for flushing.

It is important to note that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has adopted 350g as the minimum performance threshold for high-efficiency toilets (HETs) promoted within its new WaterSense program. Furthermore, most water utilities currently adopting toilet replacement rebate and installation programs (with HETs) are also establishing their minimum performance threshold at 350g (some are as high as 500g). Therefore, for the sake of consistency, it is anticipated that the requirements for UNAR (Uniform North American Requirements) for toilet fixtures, which is virtually identical to the EPA’s WaterSense program for high-efficiency models, will also adopt 350g as the minimum flushing performance threshold.

Efficiency Rating

The Efficiency Rating gives an overall performance of each toilet technology. The higher the Efficiency Rating value, the more effective and efficient the toilet is in performance and saving water.

This information is based on 9th edition of MaP Testing results.
To download the complete list of toilet models based on their Efficiency Rating listing click here.


* MaP Testing developed by Veritec Consulting Inc. and Koeller and Company