by Caitlin Driscoll, Education Coordinator

Parents everywhere know that something flushed does not simply vanish forever. In some ways, that’s good, because maybe you needed that cell phone or plastic dinosaur or diamond engagement ring back. However, with some items, out of sight means out of mind… until it creates a problem.

Plumbers and public health officials state that only two items should go down a toilet: human waste and toilet paper. Toilets and related sewage systems have been designed to specifically to handle these things. Unfortunately, there are many items that wind up down drains and pipes that have no business being there.  Share your experience by emailing info@ohwowkids.org , or on Facebook or Twitter.

Early in November, my sister flushed the downstairs toilet, and water bubbled up from the drain in the kitchen sink. When she tried to the do dishes, the toilet overfilled and overflowed. Water began seeping into the basement, and that’s when she called in the calvary, and by “calvary” I mean a professional with an auger.

I cheerfully assisted the pro as he accessed the main pipe through the kitchen sink, flushing toilets and mopping up spills as needed. He happily shared interesting details about water and plumbing. For example, water will come out at the lowest elevation since it likes to flow down. So when our toilet overflowed, it was because there was no place lower that the water could get out.  (At OH WOW, our overflow occurred on the 1^st floor: can you think of why?)
                Recently we’ve experienced a similar issue at OH WOW! Like at my home, we first noticed the issue because of water coming up and out of our floor drains - somewhere it shouldn’t. The issue became so serious that we had to stop using our restrooms, causing us to close to the public until we resolved the issue.

In light of this, we’re going to ask our guests to follow a New Year’s resolution: Please only flush human waste and toilet paper.  Dispose of all other items like baby wipes, diapers, bandages, tissues, feminine hygiene products, paper towels, etc., via the trash can. If you have any other ideas or suggestions, please email me at info@ohwowkids.org, or post on our Facebook or Twitter.