Many people are guilty of treating their toilets like a trashcan and unknowingly flush a number of things that can lead to unnecessary plumbing issues. Apart from clogging your pipes, there are items that are considered hazardous to the water supply because of a sewer’s inability to filter out all toxins. Here are six things you should never dispose of in your toilet:
This unsuspecting item may come as a surprise. Perhaps you even threw dental floss in the toilet today! This, however, should be avoided. Dental floss is not biodegradable and over time can become tangled and voila, you’ve got yourself a ball of dental floss clogging your pipe.
Many people flush disposable wipes and paper towels down the toilet and don’t think twice about it. Especially because many disposable wipes claim to be flushable. The reality is that disposable wipes and paper towels are a lot thicker than toilet paper and don’t break down in the same way. In fact, they don’t break down at all.
Tampons are another item that commonly get flushed down the toilet. But just like dental floss, they are not biodegradable. Tampons are also absorbent and so can expand making them difficult pass through pipes, causing a clog.
It may be natural but our hair should never be flushed. The problem with hair is that not only can it clog pipes, but it can also catch other things in your pipes, leading to odors and slow drains.
While you may get away with flushing a piece of bread down the toilet, a lot of foods such as bones and apple cores can cause clogs. The same holds true for coffee grinds. Compost your food instead!
Pharmaceuticals should always be discarded safely but unfortunately, many people make the mistake of flushing unused medications down the toilet. While medications won’t cause a clog, they can make their way into the water supply, which poses a health and safety risk.
The above list represents a number of things that commonly get flushed down the toilet. If you want to avoid clogged pipes and plumbing emergencies, avoid flushing anything down your toilet but toilet paper.
If you think you may have a clogged pipe or slow drain and are in need of professional plumbing services, call Advanced Plumbing at 877-286-8044 or contact us online here. Advanced Plumbing offers prompt plumbing services, honest pricing and 99.9% customer satisfaction.