The 7 Worst Things People Do in the Toilet: Plumbers’ Opinion

Not everyone is an expert in toilet maintenance, but few know it. We suggest you take a brief exam to see if you know what’s best to never do in the toilet, according to plumbers.

This even applies to “disposable” products – as repair service manager Doyle James explains, despite manufacturers’ claims, these materials, unlike toilet paper, take a very long time to decompose in water. It makes sense: after all, they don’t collapse when wet. As a result, toilet paper can “catch” other waste and cause a clog.

From the point of view of environmentalists, ordinary wet wipes are the main culprit of the problem of fatbergs – nasty pieces of non-biological waste washed away by water, stuck in drains, covered in congealed grease and oil.

Fatbergs are not just “ugh”: firstly, their elimination costs the city budget huge amounts of money, and secondly, because of them, sewage spills occur and sewage enters the environment contaminated, because they do not have time to pass through treatment plants. structures.

Speaking of fat! He and the remains should not be thrown into the water either. “Many people pour soups, oils and sauces down the toilet. It seems to them that if it has not been a problem once, then they can continue in the same spirit. But this waste “works” over time – it takes time for it to accumulate in the pipes after hardening, and after that it is very difficult to clean it out, explains Brandon White.

What to do with the remaining oil in the pan? You can cover it with salt (bonus – this will remove the grease even from the scratches and start breaking down the burnt food) and throw it in the trash. If there is a lot of liquid waste, it should be poured into a container and thrown away.

Hair can cause clogs not only in the shower, but also in the toilet – according to Jake Romano, an employee of a janitorial company, when it clings to something in the pipe, it turns into threads which catch other waste. Dental floss is even worse: it’s stronger and more durable than hair.

“It’s a common mistake people make: they use too much anti-clog product. This is a strong chemical that can corrode pipes and cause leaks. Always follow the directions on the bottle, especially regarding quantities. When it comes to plumbing, the rule that ‘bigger is better’ doesn’t work,” says Michael Berry, founder of a 24-hour plumbing repair company.

For small clogs, Michael recommends using baking soda and vinegar: remove as much water from the toilet as possible, pour in a cup of baking soda, pour in two cups of 9% white vinegar, wait two hours, then flush the toilet. he.

This recipe for removing a blockage is still circulating on the Internet: it is believed that you can wash the blockage with a bucket of boiling water. This tip is justified by the fact that the temperature will help melt the fat, and the lump blocking the water will collapse.

The inventors of the technique remain silent about one important nuance: the toilet bowl will also collapse – the material from which it is made will not withstand a sharp change in temperature. To remove a blockage, you can only use hot, but not boiling, water.

“Many customers spend weeks or even months observing toilet leaks, but even if there is little water, they don’t pay attention. As a result, a problem that could have been fixed in five minutes results in a costly repair,” says White.

This is the opinion of doctors, not plumbers: the surface of the toilet bowl is slippery and it is not easy to stay on it. According to doctors, there are even typical injuries that can be used to understand what happened to a person: usually a bruise on the buttocks and tailbone is accompanied by a concussion from hitting a head against a door. Seams can be added to it if the toilet collapses – after all, it is not designed for such loads.

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