Toilets: The Causes Of Clogged Toilets

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Perhaps the king of plumbing problems, a clogged toilet may be the most common and most annoying. It is in a homeowners best interest to limit clogs and sewer problems, as they can ruin a room and be expensive to fix. Plus, nobody wants to deal with sewage waste all over their bathroom floor – yuck!
The Cause of Clogged Toilets
Did you know that toilets in the United States clog more than most other countries because of the design of the seating, trapping, and flushing. Standard US toilets rely on a siphon to eliminate waste from the bowl and bring it ot the drain through the trap base. While most homeowners don’t even know what a siphon is, let alone its purpose, they play an important role to the toilets operation. Siphons need to use a …show more content…

These are a toilets worst nightmare! Feminine hygiene products soak up moisture while expanding. For this reason, avoid flushing tampons, sanitary pads, and applicators of any kind down the toilet. These products can expand in your pipes, causing major clogging. Overtime these will make it difficult for items to pass through the pipelines.

Cotton Swabs. Q-tips or cotton swabs are also an item that is commonly tossed in the toilet rather than the trash can. They can easily get caught in your the toilets trap or flange, which will end up leading to a clog.

Wet Wipes. Wet wipes may seem like their flushable – some might even claim to be ‘flushable’ – but the truth is, you should never flush wipes of any kind down the toilet. Wipes can easily get caught on pipes and cause blockages and backups. Its best to toss all wipes in a waste basket and avoid costly plumbing issues.

Kitty Litter. Although it seems odd, some people do flush kitty litter down their toilets. Although the purpose of toilets is to eliminate fecal matter, there are some boundaries that should apply. When you flush kitty litter down the toilet, in addition to the fecal matter and urine, you’re also flushing clay and sand, which is bad for plumbing. Plus, cat waste can carry parasites and toxins which shouldn’t be flushed through your water system.
What The Flush Were They …show more content…

However, believe it or not, there have been cases of more odd things taking the plunge in the toilet and causing clogs, check out some bizarre things that were flushed down a toilet and caused a clog.

False Teeth. Although it's hard to believe, dentures and false teeth are flushed down the toilet more than they should be. While false teeth seem like an item that you would notice is missing, many homeowners have been surprised when informed that the cause of their clog was a pair of dentures!

Jewelry. Whether it was intentional or an accident, jewelery is often found in a system. Flushing jewelry is not ideal for your, and it will eventually find its way to the sewer which makes it highly unlikely to retrieve.

Toys. Kids have quite the imagination, flushing small items down toilets is not an uncommon thing for young children to do. However, flushed plastic toys and items will backup your system in a short period of time.
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