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Careful of What You Flush Down Your Toilet!

Careful of what you flush down your toileEven though the first toilet was invented in England in the 16th century, the flush toilet as we know it wasn’t a part of people’s daily lives until the 19th century, so basically humankind has been enjoying this invention for a little more over than a century. The ubiquity of this modern convenience urges some homeowners to take it for granted, so they flush down their toilet drain all kinds of stuff, using it as their personal trash disposal.

Although it seems great having a trashcan that promptly disposes of its trash and smells, your toilet and septic system are designed to handle only human waste and toilet paper.

In this article you will find out what things shouldn’t be flushed down your toilet drain. Otherwise, plumbing problems and environmental pollution are guaranteed.

Grease, fat and oil
Grease, oil and fats when melted can easily be washed down the drain, but eventually they cool down and form the build-up on the sides of your pipes, making the pipe opening smaller and smaller over time like a clogged artery. You do not see it, but your pipe is gradually clogging to an extent that one day it can back up or worse. Scrape the cooled grease into the trash instead.

Flushable wipes

Flushable wipes

While these products might be marketed as “flushable” or “disposable”, the truth is that they are far too thick to be flushed. Even the ones that read they are safe for septic systems or sewers. A city in Minnesota is suing six manufactures of “flushable wipes”, since their wipes have already caused huge problems with the city sewer systems. The wipes don’t degrade after having been flushed and end up costing the city thousands of dollars of damages.

Cotton Balls & Swabs
It might seem like these tiny bathroom accessories would just bloat and break down in the watery pipeline, but they wouldn’t, instead they would collect in pipe bends, as a result causing massive blockages.

Condoms
Don’t ever attempt to flush condoms down the toilet drain. Wrap them carefully and just throw them away in the trash.

Cigarette butts
Cigarette butts serve as a filter when you smoke, thus they are full of extremely toxic chemicals that just go into the general water supply. And besides they won’t flush that easily, unattractively floating in the toilet water, so to flush them off, you’ll have to use a significant amount of water. The best solution would be to quit up smoking, in this case you won’t get any cigarette butts to flush.

Dental floss
Dental floss isn’t decomposable and while one small thread of floss may not seem too bad, just imagine what happens when a whole bunch of dental floss starts tangling together. It is best to throw your dental floss in the trash after the flossing.

HairHair clogs showers, sinks and toilet plumbing
Some people believe that to throw hair into the trash is omen of misfortune, so they try to dispose of it in all kinds of weird ways, including flushing the hair down the toilet drain. Consequently hair clogs showers, sinks and toilet plumbing. The hair forms giant balls which trap odors and cause immense blockages in pipes, plumbing and sewers. In fact, hair is responsible for more clogs than any other items on this list. Throw your used hair into the garbage or even compost it.

Cat litter
Cat litter is made of clay and sand, these two items should never be flushed down the toilet. Do not forget that cat waste also contains toxins and parasites that are not supposed to be in your water system.

The list of things that shouldn’t be flushed down your toilet drain could go on and on, but remember three things that can be flushed – they are number ones, number twos and toilet paper. Don’t run a risk of using your toilet as a garbage disposal, because plumber calls usually happen at the most embarrassing and inconvenient times. However, if you ever face the plumbing issue with your toilet, do not hesitate and call Pomona Valley Plumbing Heating & Air Conditioning – your #1 plumbing and HVAC contractor!

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