Can you flush food scraps down the toilet? This might seem like a strange question to some, but it seems that a lot of people do it. One of the main reasons for flushing food it is to prevent bad odours from developing in the bin when disposing of leftover meat or scraps. Some people don’t have a compost bin and flush food scraps as a misguided attempt to be environmentally friendly, while others just do it for convenience. Whether you find the practice of flushing food perfectly normal or completely absurd, here are three good reasons why you shouldn’t do it.
Flushing food can cause blocked drains in your Sydney home
All of the plumbing fixtures in your home are connected to the same sewer pipe outside of your home. This outdoor sewer pipe is responsible for transporting all the wastewater from your home to the Council sewer mains. Even small pieces of food that go down the kitchen sink can cause problems for your sewer. It should therefore be obvious that flushing larger bits of food, such as meat, risks a clog in either the toilet itself or the sewer pipes. Flushing greasy food is even more problematic because oil coagulates when it cools, coating the interior lining of your pipes.
The toilet is not a bin
Food isn’t the only thing that people shouldn’t be flushing down the toilet. People use the toilet to dispose of all kinds of things such as tampons, makeup wipes, dental floss, kitty litter and even underwear. Sydney Water goes to great lengths to educate residents about the high costs and stress placed on wastewater treatment systems simply from people flushing the wrong stuff down the toilet. It costs taxpayers millions of dollars each year, and homeowners thousands in blocked drain repairs.
Flushing food is a waste of water
Flushing food is a waste of our most precious resource - water. In June this year Level 1 water restrictions were introduced to protect Sydney's water supply from drought conditions. Much of New South Wales continues to be affected by prolonged drought with recent figures revealing up to 97 per cent of the state remains in drought. Depending on whether you have a single or dual flush toilet, every single flush uses between five and 11 litres of water. In the current climate this is a huge amount of water to be wasting on flushing food that should be placed in the bin (or better yet, the compost).
Call the Sydney blocked drain experts
If you’ve been flushing food or other items down the toilet and are now dealing with a blocked drain, give JAB Plumbing Solutions a call. Our team of highly trained plumbers carry the latest high-pressure drain cleaning tools including jet blasting machines and CCTV drain inspection cameras. Call us now for a free quote.
