Sunday, March 22, 2020
Posted in
Environment
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Life
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I recently saw a blurb on TV about what you can and can't flush in a toilet. They said that you can flush the "four P's" -- pee, poop, toilet paper and puke. But all my life I have flushed more things than that, and I firmly believe that it is okay to do so. The question is, which items are likely to cause problems? The answer to that is: any item which won't biodegrade. Here are my thoughts on various items:
floss [No] -- Floss is made of synthetic thread and should not be flushed. Yes, it is very small, but it can get caught in the pipes, creating knots that trap other items. Floss should go in the trash.
paper towels [Maybe] -- I tend to see paper towels as being very similar to toilet paper, except that it is a bit heavier. The problem is that it may clog any narrow pipes that it passes through before it has a chance to biodegrade, especially if you are using a high-quality brand like Bounty. I use paper towels to finish wiping my ass at the toilet. I moisten a sheet, squeeze out the water, and use it after removing 95% of the poop with toilet paper. (As an old person, my poops tend to be soft.) I had been doing this for more than two years before my landlord found out about it, and he freaked. But I estimate that I had flushed two to three thousand paper towels in that time; and if they hadn't caused a problem, they never would.
Now, a heavy paper towel like Bounty might not biodegrade by the time it reaches the waste treatment plant. But then, I can imagine that quite a bit of poop doesn't biodegrade either.
wet wipes [No] -- You absolutely should not flush wet wipes, even if the container says that you can. Wet wipes are made of cloth -- probably synthetic cloth -- and will not biodegrade. Manufacturers claim they are flushable because they are small enough not to clog your toilet, but they do survive until they reach the waste treatment plant, and the plant has to remove and dispose of them. Hopefully, laws will be passed requiring wet wipes to be made of biodegradable materials.
cat litter [No] -- Cat litter is like dirt. Some of it will flush through to the waste treatment plant, where it must be scooped out and disposed of, but much of it will sit in pipes and cause them to narrow. Your town's sewer department must clean it out of the pipes periodically.
cooking fats [Small Amounts Only] -- Too much cooking fat down your toilet can cause a problem. It can congeal on the inside of the pipes (which, underground, are always cold), thereby narrowing the pipes and causing problems. If you saute your food in a tablespoon of fat, that should be okay. But the fat from a pound of bacon is too much to pour down the drain. Vegetable oil from a deep-fat fryer is also too much.
carbohydrate foods [Soft Foods Only] -- Most carbohydrate foods should be okay to flush, especially if they are not hard and are cut into small pieces. Baked goods will disintegrate quickly. Drinks and puddings will disintegrate quickly. Soft vegetables, like tomatoes and zucchini, will disintegrate quickly. Cereal is good to go. However, hard carbohydrate foods, like pickles and raw root vegetables (raw potatoes, carrots, beets), will probably survive to the waste treatment plant. The skin of citrus fruits is probably too hard also.
protein foods [Soft Foods Only] -- Protein foods do not disintegrate as readily as carbohydrate foods do. Foods like eggs and fish will fall apart pretty quickly, but solid pieces of meat or processed meat (like hot dogs) will generally stay together until they reach the treatment plant. Fish bones should not be a problem (they are small and flimsy), but mammal bones are a no-no. Ground meats won't clog any pipes, but they may not biodegrade.
Finally, nothing made of plastic should ever be flushed down the toilet.
I'll add to this article as new things occur to me.
floss [No] -- Floss is made of synthetic thread and should not be flushed. Yes, it is very small, but it can get caught in the pipes, creating knots that trap other items. Floss should go in the trash.
paper towels [Maybe] -- I tend to see paper towels as being very similar to toilet paper, except that it is a bit heavier. The problem is that it may clog any narrow pipes that it passes through before it has a chance to biodegrade, especially if you are using a high-quality brand like Bounty. I use paper towels to finish wiping my ass at the toilet. I moisten a sheet, squeeze out the water, and use it after removing 95% of the poop with toilet paper. (As an old person, my poops tend to be soft.) I had been doing this for more than two years before my landlord found out about it, and he freaked. But I estimate that I had flushed two to three thousand paper towels in that time; and if they hadn't caused a problem, they never would.
Now, a heavy paper towel like Bounty might not biodegrade by the time it reaches the waste treatment plant. But then, I can imagine that quite a bit of poop doesn't biodegrade either.
wet wipes [No] -- You absolutely should not flush wet wipes, even if the container says that you can. Wet wipes are made of cloth -- probably synthetic cloth -- and will not biodegrade. Manufacturers claim they are flushable because they are small enough not to clog your toilet, but they do survive until they reach the waste treatment plant, and the plant has to remove and dispose of them. Hopefully, laws will be passed requiring wet wipes to be made of biodegradable materials.
cat litter [No] -- Cat litter is like dirt. Some of it will flush through to the waste treatment plant, where it must be scooped out and disposed of, but much of it will sit in pipes and cause them to narrow. Your town's sewer department must clean it out of the pipes periodically.
cooking fats [Small Amounts Only] -- Too much cooking fat down your toilet can cause a problem. It can congeal on the inside of the pipes (which, underground, are always cold), thereby narrowing the pipes and causing problems. If you saute your food in a tablespoon of fat, that should be okay. But the fat from a pound of bacon is too much to pour down the drain. Vegetable oil from a deep-fat fryer is also too much.
carbohydrate foods [Soft Foods Only] -- Most carbohydrate foods should be okay to flush, especially if they are not hard and are cut into small pieces. Baked goods will disintegrate quickly. Drinks and puddings will disintegrate quickly. Soft vegetables, like tomatoes and zucchini, will disintegrate quickly. Cereal is good to go. However, hard carbohydrate foods, like pickles and raw root vegetables (raw potatoes, carrots, beets), will probably survive to the waste treatment plant. The skin of citrus fruits is probably too hard also.
protein foods [Soft Foods Only] -- Protein foods do not disintegrate as readily as carbohydrate foods do. Foods like eggs and fish will fall apart pretty quickly, but solid pieces of meat or processed meat (like hot dogs) will generally stay together until they reach the treatment plant. Fish bones should not be a problem (they are small and flimsy), but mammal bones are a no-no. Ground meats won't clog any pipes, but they may not biodegrade.
Finally, nothing made of plastic should ever be flushed down the toilet.
I'll add to this article as new things occur to me.
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