I have a house that they have a 1950 vintage American Standard toilet in pink. As it matches all the tile, I’m wondering if there are ways to retrofit it to a low flush type and have it flush decently. It can’t be replaced in that same color.
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You can retrifit most of them. Most folks just displace some water by putting someting the in the tank - bricks, etc.
This thing replaces the handle. Up is a regular flush and down and is low-flow flush.
The Controllable Flush works with 3.5-, 5- and 7-gallon tanks. It's available for $30 at http://www.controllableflush.com or by calling 1-888-426-7383.
You can't really retrofit to a true low flush and have it flush reliably, especially one of that vintage that may use 5-6 gallons per flush. The bowl for a low flush toilet needs to be designed to handle the lower volume. (And, in particular, the bowl needs to HAVE a lower volume -- many of the older units have a bowl with about a 2 gallon capacity, which obviously isn't going to flush with 1.6 gallons.)
There are ways to reduce by maybe 1/3 the volume of the flush, such as sticking bricks in the tank, or adding dams. And possibly a pressure flush retrofit could be done, reducing volume by 1/2 or so.