It's really no secret that plumbers have difficult jobs. There are long hours of clearing clogged pipes, wading through who-knows-what to find the source of flooded basements and bathrooms, and a host of other woeful issues. You probably can imagine then that your plumber has probably seen a lot of crazy things during their career. Here are some of the craziest things that real life plumbers have seen flushed down toilets.
Dead Animals
There have been reports of plumbers finding dead animals such as squirrels and birds getting clogged in people's toilets. Although you might have had a toilet flushing funeral for a child's deceased goldfish, you have to wonder how a squirrel or bird would manage to get stuck in toilet plumbing. Unfortunately, these animals sometimes will squeeze through vent pipes and then can't get back out and end up clogging the toilet. It's sad, but it happens more often than you might think.
Drug Paraphernalia
Multiple plumbers have mentioned finding drugs like marijuana flushed down the toilet, clogging it up. This has happened before when law enforcement arrives at someone's home where people are smoking marijuana or doing some other type of drug and flush the stash down the toilet to avoid being caught.
Expensive Jewelry
Kids are often curious about shiny things like jewelry. They are also often curious about toilets and how fecal matter and toilet paper just disappears by pulling down the handle. Many plumbers have found expensive jewelry flushed down the toilet, a lot of these instances the probable result of curious children. If you have children, it's best to keep them away from the jewelry box and keep them from meddling with the toilet too much other than to do their business.
Cell Phones
Kids are not the only people likely to flush a phone down the toilet. In fact, the usual culprit is actually older people. How many times have you heard stories about people accidentally dropping their phones in the toilet or forgetting that they have their phones in their back pockets when they sit down to use the toilet? It happens quite often. The best solution is just to leave your phone outside the restroom before you go in.
Food
When dispensing advice about avoiding toilet clogs, it's likely that any plumber will tell you not to flush anything except for human waste and toilet paper down the toilet. However, many people use the toilet as a garbage disposal of sorts. This results in toilet clogs and plumbing repairs because someone flushed food down the toilet. This can be dangerous for your pipes and is particularly worrisome if you have a septic system.
If you're the parent of young kids, then this might not surprise you at all. To others, it may be a warning of things to be careful of bringing into the bathroom. You can avoid a lot of embarrassment and potentially costly plumbing repairs by keeping these things far away from the toilet.
Call The Pink Plumber today with any of your plumbing concerns!
