It’s important to make sure you aren’t flushing things down your toilet that shouldn’t be going down your toilet. We all share the plumbing system and you don’t want to be the reason for your neighbors or the complex having plumbing issues. Making sure you aren’t flushing these things down your toilet will help ensure the Association doesn’t have to endure potential costly plumbing repairs.
1 – Diapers will clog a toilet, or an outgoing line, causing backups for not only you but also your neighbors. Diapers should always go in the trash.
2 – Anything Cotton, i.e. tampons and sanitary napkins, q-tips, paper towels, kleenex or nose tissues. Cotton snags easily, and if your home’s plumbing pipes have any cracks or root infiltration, the cotton can quickly get caught in the line. After a few flushes, buildup can occur and you’ll have a clog on your hands. Cotton doesn’t easily break down in water. This could cause some serious problems over time. Plus, the waste water treatment facility has to remove these items as “solid waste” and tote them to the landfill. These items should go in the trash.
3 – Cigarette Butts won’t ever break down and should never be put down the toilet. Please throw these away in the trash!
4 – Floss is another non-biodegradable item that can quickly lead to clogs.
5 – Large wipes, baby wipes, paper towels, face wipes, swiffer pads, and anything that might say “flushable” on the box DO NOT flush them down the toilet. If you do it will could cause large problems.
6 – Toilet Bowl Scrub Pads are not biodegradable and most of the time they full of harsh cleaning agents that are difficult for the treatment facility to cleanse from the water
7 – Wet Wipes, baby wipes and hand wipes don’t easily dissolve or degrade in contact with water. Don’t trust those “flushable” bathroom wipes or moist towelettes, either — often times they aren’t flushable at all.
8 – Fats & Oils
9 – Medications
10 – Bleach or Non-Toilet Related Cleaning Chemical
11 – Hair
12 – Condoms
A common myth about garbage disposals is that there are blades like a blender, but really the insides of a garbage disposal is more like a cheese grader. It is still and always will be very dangerous to put your hand in your garbage disposal.
Garbage disposals are a great addition to any kitchen because of their quick way to dispose of food waste. Garbage disposals are basically the workhorse of your kitchen, but even this beneficial kitchen appliance can choke at certain times. Here are a few things that you should NEVER put in your garbage disposal much less down any of your drains.
Paint – Latex and Oil paints should never be poured down your plumbing drains or used within your garbage disposal. It can cling to the sides or sit in your pipes and harden. This can cause a lot of issues not only for you but also for your building neighbors and can create costly repairs to the Association.
Coffee Grounds – Yes, coffee can help reduce odors but the fine grounds that coffee are ground into can create a thick dense paste. This is something you do not want in your drains.
Pasta – When you put pasta in water, what does it do? It soaks up the water and expands. Imagine putting a bunch of pasta down your drain. A few scrapes is not going to hurt here and there, but adding several amounts will thoroughly cause trouble for your garbage disposal and plumbing in the future.
Bones – Garbage disposals are not at all made to grind up bones. Throw those bones in the garbage instead.
Oatmeal – Oatmeal is similar to pasta in the sense that it will absorb water and expand.
Nuts – If you’re thinking about throwing a handful of nuts down your garbage disposal think about how they make peanut butter and what that consistency is. This will not be a good addition to your plumbing.
Onions Skins – The skins of onions have a thin membrane that is the outer most layer of the onion. When wet, the thin membrane can get wedged up in the drain where it basically can act like a net, collecting things as they pass by. This can create a build up in your drain, which can create a boondoggle for your plumbing, but it can also create a foul smell of backed up sink waste.
Egg Shells – Now, you could put egg shells through your garbage disposal, but should you? No. No you should not. Similar to an onion, eggs also have a thin membrane that can cause havoc over time for you and your plumbing.