Are you aware of which items you must never flush down your toilet? We can easily forget that the flushing mechanism in our toilets can handle only certain types of waste. Unfortunately, many of us have bad habits with the disposal of household items. Explore seven things that you should never flush down your toilet.
1. Paper Towels and Tissues
Paper towels and tissues are non-degradable, unlike toilet paper. Also, these products are more absorbent than toilet paper and can clump together and block pipes when wet. Thus, paper towels and tissues can clog your system and lead to other waste management issues in your septic system or sewage treatment facility.
2. Fats, Oils, and Cooking Grease
Fats, oils, and cooking grease attach to the walls of pipes and quickly clog the drains when you flush them down the toilet. These substances thicken and form a hard substance when they cool down, which toilet water cannot easily remove.
This clog will not only prevent the waste from flowing through the drains, but other materials will stick in the clog and escalate the problem. Allow the fats, oils, and cooking grease from your utensils to cool after cooking, and put them in the trash instead.
3. Sanitary and Personal Hygiene Products
Do not flush diapers, cotton goods, feminine hygiene products, wipes, or condoms down the toilet.
Diapers and feminine hygiene items absorb liquids, so they expand and clog your sewage pipes when flushed. Cotton swabs, balls, and Q-tips do not dissolve quickly in water and accumulate inside pipelines.
Wipes, including ones labeled flushable, do not degrade quickly and can easily lodge themselves in drains and cause jams. Condoms and dental floss use materials that cannot break down in the water and clog toilets and septic tanks.
4. Medication
Do not flush medication down the toilet, as it is a terrible idea that can have hazardous environmental consequences. Toilet water does not effectively break down pills. The flushed water may also enter the water supply since sewage treatment plants cannot handle all of the many types of chemicals in prescribed drugs.
Instead, find a local drug take-back program or crush up the pills and dispose of them on trash day instead of flushing them. This approach is the most secure method to dispose of unneeded or expired medication and will help to prevent water contamination.
5. Cigarette Butts
Cigarette butts can introduce hazardous substances into the water system and harm aquatic life. They do not always flush and can float inside your toilet. Properly extinguish your cigarettes and throw them in the garbage.
6. Hair
When flushed, hair can form a net and entangle itself on the walls of your pipes, which causes jams over time. Furthermore, hair never disintegrates in water and can build up in your drains to form enormous hairballs, which can result in even more obstructions.
7. Cat Litter
Even if your cat litter describes itself as flushable, do not flush it. All kitty litter is terrible for your toilet because it remains in your pipes, refuses to dissolve quickly, and interacts adversely with your sewer system. Cat excrement from the litter box dehydrates the waste, and toilets can only discharge water-soluble waste.
Also, cat litter contains a deadly parasite, toxoplasma gondii, which is extremely hazardous to people and animals. Furthermore, cat litter composes of bentonite clay, which can accumulate over time and clog your toilet.
You will need a plumber to repair any consequences from these items once they go down your toilet. Contact us at PlumbRite for plumbing repairs and replacements. We look forward to helping you.
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Omaha, NE
La Vista, NE
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