Abstract: A vacuum assist toilet provides an efficient flushing in a tank of relatively low height. A container assembly (36) includes a largely sealed container (34) that lies within the tank (12) to hold water that is dispensed in a flushing so as to create a vacuum at the top of the tank for application to the toilet bowl outlet. The flush valve (40) lies within the container, and the lower portion of the container is isolated from tank water surrounding the container, so water used during a flushing is obtained primarily by the outflow of water within the container and through a valve seat at the bottom of the container. A baffle (130) largely surrounds the region containing the flush valve, to produce an earlier closing of the flush valve.