In my part of the UK, the problem can be solved by plumbing the WC into the loft header tank which feeds the cold water system, as in our home. Otherwise, fit a tap in the pipe feeding the WC cistern, and turn it back to reduce the pressure. My long departed father had an even more silent solution to the problem, but my mother only let him adopt it after they had taken to separate bedrooms!Christopher UK

I've seen toilets in Europe that allow a "light" flush or a "full" flush. This is a step toward what you're suggesting. These toilets are designed to save water, I imagine, but they also run for a shorter time after the "light" flush.

You know you don't HAVE to flush at all!

Old saying:If it's yellow, let it mellow.If it's brown, flush it down.

The simplest solution, which we had on an upstairs toilet, is to have a piece of pipe that runs from the stopcock (where the water comes out) to the bottom of the cistern. Thus ensuring that the water refilling the cistern enters below the level of water in the cistern. Therefore silently.This works.

Dual-flush and quieter toilets are the norm in Europe, they are just starting to enter the market in the US. Perhaps one of those could help

I think the latent function of those hockey puck toilet bowl cleansers wasn't to clean the bowl, which they do poorly, but to dispense blue dye to hide the yellow if a person chose to save water by not flushing. Those would be a good solution.

Or buy one of the more effective and elaborate "NeverScrub" toilet bowl cleaners from Puricle. They bleach the yellow out of urine. Here's the link:http://www.puricle.com/

I have a water-saving toilet that typically doesn't make the full noisy whoosy kip-n-kaboodle and uses less water. For the full floosh you have to hold the hand down for two light whooshes and then it does the full thing. I only do this if really necessary (like for feces, not urine. Or some other clog-prone thing...).