Whether you live in Middletown, Myersville or Brunswick, you probably do your part to keep your city looking beautiful by maintaining your lawn and the exterior of your home. But what some homeowners don’t think about is that how we take care of the inside of our homes can effect the the city as well. If you flush things down your toilet that aren’t supposed to be flushed, clogged pipes can happen not only in your own home but also in the municipal sewer system — and some things can even cause damage to municipal sewage treatment facilities.
To do what’s best for your home’s plumbing system, your city’s plumbing system, and the environment, it’s imperative that only toilet paper and human waste be flushed down your toilet. That means the following items should not be flushed.
Things You Should Not Flush
Flushable Wipes
That’s right, even though they say “flushable”, these wipes cause big trouble for toilets and septic systems. They pile up in residential pipes and cause trouble for sewage treatment centers, so put these in the trash can whenever possible.
Cotton Balls
The cotton in cotton balls is NOT the same as that in toilet paper. It will clump together and cause clogs in your pipes.
Paper Towels
You’ve seen the commercials where someone soaks up a whole counter full of liquid with a paper towel. Paper towels are not made to dissolve in water.
Facial Tissue
We’ve all reached for a tissue when we’ve found ourselves with an empty roll of toilet paper, but the truth is that Kleenex and Puffs do not dissolve in water well enough to be flushed.
Floss
Floss doesn’t dissolve, and it will get stuck and tangled in pipes and sewage systems and can even prevent fats, oils, and other materials from flowing through.
Pills
No drugs should ever be flushed for environmental reasons. Sewage systems have a hard time breaking down medications, so they end up in lakes, oceans, rivers, and ponds.
Kitty Litter
Some litter brands market themselves as flushable, but since cat feces contain a parasite call toxoplasma gondii, it’s just not healthy for the environment. The sewage systems can’t break the parasite down so it can enter the oceans and cause harm to wildlife.
Feminine Products and Diapers
These are meant to absorb liquid. If you’ve ever seen a baby try to swim in a regular diaper, you can imagine how quickly a diaper can clog pipes. So place both diapers and feminine products in the trash.
If You Don’t Know if It’s Flushable, the Answer is NO!
We love helping Frederick County homeowners with their plumbing problems, but this is one issue where we’d like to prevent you from having to call us! Don’t put anything in the toilet besides toilet paper, and you’ll be doing your part to keep Frederick County water clean.
