Toilet Bowl Water

encouraged

the main water valve to home was shut off. checked facuets in the house and flushed the tolilets in the house to drain water from pipes. after flushing the toilet a few minutes later the bowl refilled with water. i thought when the main water for the house was shut off the water wouldn't refill in the toilet bowl. the water refilled in the toilet bowl but not in the tank. the water in the bowl won't flush now. the houses' water is still shut off. i suppose i will have to turn the main house water back on to flush the toilet again. is it normal for the toilet bowl to refill with water? thank you.

JDC

Yes that is quite normal. You have a tank full of water and you opened a pathway for it to drain into the bowl. Your tank didnt refill because you shut the source of the water off, but what was sitting in the tank had to go somewhere.....thus the bowl.

majakdragon

The bowl will never empty unless you remove the water with towels or a shop vac. The bowl has a built-in trap (just like under a sink) that holds water to prevent sewer gas from entering the home. Not sure why you are trying to drain the water from pipes and fixtures, unless you are winterizing the home. If so, you need to find a low spot in the water lines to drain all the lines. Usually, air is then used to purge water from any low spots in the piping. Traps are then filled with RV antifreeze. If you remove the water from traps, you need to seal the trap with rags or something to prevent the sewer gas from entering. If the heat will be shut off, you also need to drain the water heater.

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