To Flush or Not to Flush?

To Flush or Not to Flush? That is the Question!

From diamond rings to dentures, socks to small animals, our plumbers have found a lot of crazy items in sewer pipes. While those items likely ended up in the toilet accidentally, other seemingly harmless items are being flushed on purpose every day—and they can cause big plumbing issues! So when it comes to flushing, which items are a no-no?

As the company that makes more plumbing service calls than all other plumbing companies, and repairs more than 75,000 toilets per year, we can tell you that there are only two things that should be flushed down a toilet: toilet paper and human waste.

Unfortunately, fibrous wet wipes, paper towels, feminine products, cotton balls, cotton swabs, facial scrub pads and other items are often flushed away, as well. So—what’s the big deal? Well, paper towels take more than 24 hours to dissolve, while feminine products and other items can take days, weeks, months or longer—causing sewage back-ups into your home.

Some wet wipes can be so harmful that they’ve been known to clog not just residential systems, but industrial-grade pumps at water treatment plants—costing taxpayers a lot of money to fix! But manufacturers are working on flushablility (yes, that’s a word) and making strides. Right now, the only wet wipes that are “flush friendly” are the pulp-based kind that don’t use stringy fibers—so be sure to read the label.

So, what if you’re only flushing toilet paper and are still experiencing clogging? There must be another culprit. Often times, tree-root intrusion in underground sewers, damaged or misaligned sewer pipe sections, or some other foreign object like a child’s toy or one of the other items mentioned above is to blame.