This is a piece of advice we give to all our customers—and to home owners in general: don’t use the toilet as if it were a garbage can! It isn’t equipped to handle the standard trash you throw into a waste receptacle, and it can lead to serious damage to your plumbing system and seriously inconvenient clogs. Any plumber can tell you about bizarre items they’ve had to clear out of toilets. We’ve collected a list from around the web of a few of the more odd things that have gotten sent down household toilets, accidentally or on purpose:
- A $7,000 diamond engagement ring: This happened in Grand Rapids, MI, and it took plumbers with special pipeline inspection equipment (the same type that we use) to locate and retrieve the valuable item. In fact, expensive jewelry re one of the more common items that get accidentally lodged in toilets.
- False teeth: Another item rescued using the best in plumbing technology.
- Sponge toy animals: These are toy animals that come in in gel capsules and which expand when put in water. Unfortunately, toss a bunch of these capsules into a toilet, and they’ll expand into a full menagerie blocking the toilet!
- NOT alligators: This one is actually an urban myth. There is no population of alligators running around the sewer system because people flushed baby alligators down the toilet that they didn’t want as pets. It made for a good horror movie—1981’s Alligator—but it’s fiction.
This is all comical to read bout, but keep in mind that removing such blockages usually requires calling on professionals. And if some of these items make it to the actual sewer system, it can affect drainage for everyone! Make sure you’re mindful of whatever goes down all the drains in your home, and it will help you avoid plumbing problems in the future.
Modern Plumbing Industries, Inc. has proudly served Winter Springs and the rest of Central Florida since 1975. We offer quality workmanship from highly-trained and qualified plumbers.