Toilet marketing is full of proprietary flush names — every manufacturer has a trademarked system with a confident-sounding name. None of them tell you anything comparable. MaP does.
What MaP Measures
MaP stands for Maximum Performance. It is an independent testing programme that measures how many grams of solid waste a toilet removes in a single flush, using a standardised test medium designed to behave like the real thing. The result is a single number in grams.
Because every toilet is tested the same way, the numbers are directly comparable across brands. That is the whole point, and it is what makes MaP more useful than any manufacturer’s own claims.
How to Read the Number
Broadly:
- Under 350 g — weak. Avoid unless you have a specific reason.
- 350–600 g — adequate for most households.
- 600–800 g — good, and a sensible target.
- 1,000 g — the maximum score the test awards. A number of modern toilets reach it.
A common mistake is assuming more is always better in a meaningful way. Once you are comfortably past about 600 grams, you are well beyond what a normal household produces in one sitting. The difference between 800 and 1,000 grams is unlikely to change your life; the difference between 250 and 800 grams absolutely will.
Why It Matters More Than Gallons Per Flush
Water use and flush performance pull against each other, which is why early low-flow toilets earned such a poor reputation — they saved water per flush and then needed two flushes. MaP is how you tell whether a modern water-saving toilet actually solved that problem or just moved it.
Read the two numbers together. A toilet using 1.28 gallons per flush with a MaP score of 800 grams is genuinely efficient. A toilet using 1.28 gallons with a score of 300 grams is just a toilet that does not work very well. Our guide to water saving and low-flow toilets goes into the trade-off in more depth.
Where to Find the Rating
MaP results are published independently and are searchable by manufacturer and model number. Many retailer listings quote the score directly; if a listing does not, the model number will usually find it. Note the score is tied to a specific model number, not a product family — two similar-looking models from the same range can score very differently.
What MaP Does Not Tell You
It is a solids-clearing test, and that is all it is. It says nothing about:
- How well the bowl rinses, or how often you will need to clean it
- How loud the flush is
- Whether the trapway is prone to clogging further down
- Build quality, glazing, or how long the internal parts last
So treat it as one strong signal rather than a verdict. A high MaP score does not rescue a toilet that is unpleasant in other ways.
Using It When You Shop
Set a floor — say 600 grams — and treat anything below it as a no. That single filter removes a surprising number of models and costs you nothing, because good scores are available at every price point.
Then decide the things MaP cannot help with: bowl shape, seat height, one-piece or two-piece, and of course your rough-in measurement.
If your current toilet is the problem rather than your shortlist, it may be worth reading how to fix a slow flushing toilet before replacing anything — a weak flush is often a partial blockage or a worn flapper rather than a design fault.
