Are the toilets in public restrooms (the ones without the tank) practical for home use? What’s the significance of the tank if you don’t need one?

Flush-valve toilets don’t fit in homes.

The reason flush-valve toilets are used in commercial installations is that they work better, have less clogging problems and require less maintenance.

The reason that one seldom sees this type of toilet in a residential installation is that they require a one-inch water main, installed up on the wall behind the toilet. Most residential toilets are supplied with a one-half-inch line through the floor.

The waste pipe location is another incompatibility. Most residential toilets are “roughed in” at 12 inches from the wall near the rear of the toilet.

Commercial flush-valve toilets are roughed in at 10 inches from the wall.

Most gravity and power-flush toilets have greatly improved in the past few years.

My favorite brands of tank-type toilets, listed in order of preference, are TOTO, Kohler and American Standard.