Ah, the toilet. An easier to access disposal than a trash can, the site of many fish funerals, and a safe quiet place where you can browse your phone in peace at work. With all our toilet does for us, the amount of abuse the average toilet faces on a daily basis can be quite shocking! The most common thing our toilets have to face is what we put down them when we really shouldn’t. We’re here to bring you a list of common things that are and are not okay to flush down your trusty toilets.
What You Can Flush Down Your Toilet
– Human #1 and #2
– Toilet paper
That’s it! That’s the comprehensive list of things that are
100% plumber approved to flush down your toilet. The far more interesting
and long list is what common things you might be tempted to, but definitely
should not flush down your toilet.
What You Cannot Flush Down Your Toilet
– Feminine products
The problem with flushing down sanitary napkins is while they are made out of cotton, they don’t break down as quickly as toilet paper. Instead they can absorb water quickly and massively increase in size, leaving you with blocked pipes and a visit from your plumber in your future for sewer repair.
– Food fat
Food fat tends to bind to things like napkins, toilet paper, and wet wipes, leading to pipe blockages and a backed up sewer system.
– Paper towels/Wet wipes
Paper towels and wet wipes may seem like good substitutes if you’re out of toilet paper, but like everything else on this list they don’t break down the way toilet paper does. Steer clear.
– Diapers
No matter how full your trash can is or how tired you are, do not ever flush a diaper down the toilet. The size of diapers and how slowly they break down guarantee you a blockage and a plumbing expense no parent wants to undertake for urgent plumbing services.
– Dental Floss/Hair
Hair and floss are not quickly degradable, and they can often clump into nasty balls and cause blocks in septic systems, particularly where the joints of your plumbing system bends. This can often result in needing to hire a plumber for emergency repair services.
– Pharmaceuticals
Pills may not cause any immediate problems for your sewer system, but they should still be disposed of in a safer method than the toilet. Flushing drugs down the toilet can mess with the environment of our aquatic wildlife, which could wind up coming back to bite you when you dig into locally sourced fish at dinner time.
– Pets
Flushing a dead goldfish down the toilet can result in a clogged plumbing line, but flushing a live goldfish can have more serious environmental implications. Fish that are flushed while alive end up in lakes and sewers where they have unlimited access to resources. These fish often end up as nuisances, winding up huge and overpopulating the area they inhabit while crowding out native species.
In conclusion, your friendly Las Vegas plumber is requesting that you please treat your toilet kindly, and only use it for its intended purpose. Your toilet doesn’t make for a good trash can, and it should never be used as one.
