March 17, 2020
Your toilet is a fast, simple, and easy way to quite literally flush your waste away. They’re a sanitary way of handling human waste, they’re good for disposing of certain types of liquids, and can even handle some forms of solid waste like toilet tissue as well. However, toilets are not a simple solution to all of your waste disposal needs. In fact, there are quite a few things that you should not flush down the toilet. Doing so could cause a plumbing disaster, including backing up your toilet drain line, causing your toilet to overflow, and could potentially even break or cause damage to your drain line.
You’re relieving yourself when you look down and notice that one of your worst fears has come to fruition: the toilet roll is completely empty. What heartless soul emptied the roll and didn’t bother to change it? That’s not really something you can worry about now—you need a solution and quick. The closest thing you can find is a roll of paper towels. That should work, right?
Not if you don’t want to back up your drain line. Paper towels are thicker, hardier, and built to withstand abuse even when wet. When you flush them down the drain, they don’t simply fall apart and disintegrate like a normal toilet roll would, but instead can become stuck and lodged in the sides of your drain lines, where they catch other debris and quickly build into a nasty and frustrating clog. If you do find yourself in a pinch and need to use a paper towel or two as a substitute for normal bath tissue, throw the towels away in the regular trash and then empty this trash straight away. It may not be pleasant, but we promise that eliminating a clog from an overflowing toilet is far worse.
Food waste has a number of similar problems to that of flushing paper towels, namely that they can stick to the walls of your plumbing and build up into a clog. Some people, particularly those who don’t have a garbage disposal, sometimes mistakenly believe that they can use their toilet as a substitute—we assure you, doing so is a mistake. Stringy foods like corn husks or asparagus, shells, and even fats like bacon or beef fat can all accumulate in your drain line and mix with other types of waste to make a nasty clog that’s particularly troublesome to get rid of. Do yourself a favor and make sure you’re disposing of food waste either down your garbage disposal (if it’s safe to do so) or in the regular trash (if it is not or if you don’t have a garbage disposal to begin with).
The toilet seems like one of the fastest, easiest, and most sanitary ways to dispose of feminine hygiene products, including tampons, pads, and more. There’s just one problem with these things: they are designed to expand when wet, and they will continue to do so after you flush them down the drain. We can’t tell you how many backed up toilets we’ve seen because of the misfortune of feminine products being flushed away, and we’d love for you to be able to avoid this hassle.
On a related note, avoid flushing condoms down the toilet once used as well. This may seem like a safe and fast way to get rid of them after use, but the truth is they too can get stuck to just about anything in your drain line. Plus these are designed to be durable and withstand stretching or snagging without breaking. Before you know it, you’ll have a nasty latex-backed clog to deal with.
By nature, diapers fill up with waste that would normally go into your toilet, so it would make sense that a toilet would be a great place to dispose of a diaper, right? Unfortunately, diapers have caused many a backed-up toilet drain line and many a frustrated homeowner who has needed to call a plumber for help. It may seem appealing to be able to simply dump the diaper in the toilet and flush it away, particularly because then you won’t have to worry about the stench in or around your home. However, diapers are also designed to expand when wet in order to absorb as much liquid as possible. Much like paper towels mentioned earlier, throw your diapers in the regular trash and then throw the regular trash away outside to keep the stench out of your home.
Got a clogged drain? Call the pros at EnviroSafe Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning, Water Treatment at (856) 208-5108 now!
I highly recommend !! Andrew was very professional, respectful, and knowledgeable. He explained what needed to be done and even took pictures to show me and then provided me with the cost. He took his time and made sure everything was done properly. Andrew is a fantastic… Read more
I used envirosafe two years ago when I bought my house, they have been excellent from the moment I called them. Gage and Micheal were the technicians that came to my house to service my water softener system and these guys were awesome. They answered every question and… Read more
Andrew was absolutely professional and worked diligently to find a balance with the boiler system. It is very difficult system because one boiler heats four apartments. Andrew and his helper put new air pressure gauges on the radiators and made sure that all the radiators were… Read more
Andrew and Shawn were friendly, knowledgeable, informative and very genuine. Air was in the lines they needed bleeding and maintenance so that my heat could be properly working for the winter season. It was a pleasure having these gentlemen service my boiler so that me and my… Read more
I had a great experience with them today! Yesterday I realized our water heater wasn’t working. The trouble shooting was beyond my experience. I called them and the dispatch was helpful and had two technicians arrive within a couple of hours. The technician(s) were very… Read more
EnviorSafe came out to my home to repair a busted water pipe due to the cold weather within 3 hours of me calling them. Andrew, the technician who came to my home was very professional, knowledgeable and friendly and did a great job at a very reasonable cost. I highly… Read more
We have a well and our resin tank is over 16 years old. We thought the resin tank was failing. Fred and Sean showed up on time and were great. after inspecting the resin tank in only need maintenance, they did an amazing job. They were honest, very personable and the price was… Read more
I was referred to this company by my sister who had service done at her home for the first time. I called to get a repair/replacement (plumbing:overflow panel) tub wouldn’t drain out.One thing I love about the company, they were initially more concerned to fix the less cost… Read more
Jake and Marquan are excellent, and if you get either of them to provide service to your home, they’re both very professional, as well as great to converse with. The work done was handled properly, and I now have an all electric water heater with a tank, that is going to save… Read more
Avery was the technician that came out to service my softener system. super polite, very informative, and very quick. super friendly and made my first experience well worth it. will definitely be repeating business!
This is my second time using this company. I found them by luck (googling for someone that works with water softeners). Both times Gage our technician came to the house and repaired our water softener, replaced the pipe going from our well to the bladder and also fixed a leaky… Read more
I had Mike and Avery install a water softener and an RO system on my water system. From the very first visit I’ve been impressed with their knowledge, experience, professionalism and disposition. It’s been a long time since I’ve been impressed with any home service people. But… Read more
We used Envirosafe for several different projects from HVAC and a new boiler/hot water heater to replacing almost all of our plumbing lines. We did a few projects at a time over several months and the whole time Envirosafe was great to deal with. They made the process so easy,… Read more
Jake was very thorough, communicated and explained everything throughout the service process and was very professional. Even offered to clean around ac unit outside of service, all of this in the rain! Would definitely recommend Envirosafe to a friend.. ask for Jake! He’s great!
Avery stopped out to conduct our yearly maintenance on our water treatment system. He is a phenomenal employee. Not only was he training a newer employee, but he took the time to show me some things about our system that I did not know. His customer service and both guys over… Read more
We have always had a good experience with EnviroSafe. Bryan provided excellent service with our air conditioning repair. He was extremely knowledgeable and responsive to our needs.
Our relationship with EnviroSafe began in July, from installing a brand new unit, to a challenge with our dishwasher and more recently a hot water tank issue. Each and every representative we have dealt with has been professional, knowledgeable, timely and accommodating… Read more
I have used Envirosafe on several different occasions. Most recently I used them to tune up my boiler prior to the winter season. He discovered some leaks in a few other pipes related to my heating system and was able to fix it the same day. Would recommend for anyone who is… Read more
Envirosafe meets all our water and plumbing needs. They respond promptly and arrive prepared. Fred Perry is one their friendly hard working knowledgeable technicians who gets the job done with a smile and thoroughly explains the service. Envirosafe is our go to company for… Read more
From the original phone call where we were provided same day service, to Jeff and CJ arriving when they said they would. The whole experience was excellent. Jeff and CJ diagnosed and repaired the problem quickly and efficiently. We would use Enviro Safe again.
First, Emma was the greatest assistance in guiding me regarding service, scheduling and follow-up regarding addressing my problem with my heater. Next, Nate came the same day and diagnosed and repaired the problem quickly and efficient. Lastly, both individuals were so… Read more
Fred and Calvin showed up on time, were great communicators regarding our plumbing issue, possible options, the state of our repair during the job, and how much it would cost. They were friendly, conversive, and efficient in completing the job. Can’t recommend them highly enough.
Pleasant experience. Everything went as planned. All employees were courteous and professional especially Chris, Jake, Devin and the first technician whose name I can’t recall. Job well done
My technician was Jeff H. from Envirosafe. He was terrific. He fixed my problem and also spent time checking everything out. He was knowledgeable, kind and helpful. He asked if I had questions or needed anything else addressed. I only wish every service tech was this helpful… Read more
