Simple but effective. I show you how to extend the life of your cistern fittings with a cheap face mask.

I am sure that many are interested in how to extend the life of the tank drain valve. After all, it has to be changed quite often.

The main reason is in the gasket, which I show in the picture.

It loses its properties before all other components. It is gradually clogged with microscopic grains of sand, which are often found in the water even in the presence of fine-mesh filters. Dirt also gets under it and settles. As a result, grooves gradually appear on the surface of the gasket, which begin to let water through. Accordingly, the tightness of the fittings is violated - it no longer fits so tightly to the opening of the exhaust mechanism. It's time to buy a new set.

But in fact, you can prevent dirt from sticking under the gasket and reduce the impact of abrasive particles. To do this, I will install another filter that I will make myself.

And the material for it will be an item that everyone probably has - a disposable medical mask. So white or blue, with poorly attached rubber bands. I install it on the tube of the water inlet mechanism. The whole thing will take five minutes, and the service life of the fittings will increase.

The configurations of these devices may be different, but the circuit diagram is the same, so even if you have a different mechanism, it will be easy to figure out how to do it.

We take the mask and make one incision on it - cut out a piece of a semicircular shape on one side. On the other hand, cut off the rubber bands.

We get such a puff bag that needs to be put on the intake pipe. The main difficulty here is to make sure that the mask does not interfere with the movement of the mechanism.

After putting on the mask, we fix the second elastic band on the upper part so that the bag sits motionless. Before this, it is advisable to check how well the elastic is sewn on, and even fasten it.

It is important that the float moves easily, rises and falls, and the movement does not jam. For fidelity, you can wind it to a fixed part.

Now we put the second part of the fittings with the gasket we examined and turn on the water to check the performance of our filter.

When water begins to rise, it becomes clear that the filter is set correctly. The liquid first enters the mask, and then into the tank. All inclusions will remain at the bottom of our bag in the form of grains of sand and dirt. The mask is synthetic, therefore it will not fall apart and will not tear. If desired, you can periodically replace it with a new one.

Now you can close the toilet lid and use. You can be sure that the armature will last longer.

I generally use masks much wider than the original purpose. Everyone knows how much coffee maker filters cost. I haven’t bought them for a long time - they are durable and of high quality from masks.

Used masks will make breathable bags for storing shoes. Better than polyethylene. I made a bag for my winter boots, and my wife saw it and started making covers for winter clothes. He sews the fabric on the machine - it turns out a dense breathable cover.