Does flushing kitty litter clog pipes?
People opt to flush kitty litter for a number of reasons. Some mistakenly believe that flushing kitty litter is better for the environment than filling up landfill with bagged litter. Others simply do it because it’s convenient and mess-free. There are also a number of kitty litter brands that market their products as “flushable” so consumers are simply following the instructions on the packaging.
The reality is that kitty litter, even the flushable variety, should never be flushed down the toilet. Kitty litter can cause big problems for your home’s plumbing system and lead to expensive blocked drain repairs. Flushing kitty litter is also detrimental to the environment because cat urine and faeces can contain a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, which is harmful to marine life.
Kitty litter comes in many shapes and forms. It can be made from silica gel crystals, clay, recycled paper, corn, wood or wheat. Clumping litters have high absorption properties making it particularly dangerous for plumbing pipes. Clay litters often contain lime and sodium bentonite (drill mud) to help it clump. Basically, it’s very similar to concrete and does a fantastic job of clogging sewer pipes.
What happens with you flush kitty litter down the toilet?
Gene Weingarten, a columnist for Washington Post, described what happened when he flushed non-flushable cat litter down his daughter, Molly’s, toilet. Gene had been tasked with the job of cat sitting while Molly was away. He scooped the poop into a bag on most days. However, on one occasions Gene was tempted to flush a small amount of litter down the toilet because the basement toilet was closer than the nearest plastic bag.
“Cat litter is a preternaturally absorptive substance, apparently designed to expand to roughly 60,000 times its original volume in some horrible malignant process like cancer, only worse,” he wrote. “Molly’s toilet resembled one of those baking-soda-and-vinegar volcanoes the dumb kids in middle school made every year for science fairs.”
“What had seemed to me at the time to be about a tablespoon of cat litter had swollen into a throbbing gel the size of a bowling ball that no amount of plunge-flushing would get rid of.”
Gene eventually resorted to scooping the litter our of the toilet by hand.
What about flushable kitty litter?
Litters that claim to be “flushable” include natural kitty litters, such as pellets made out of recycled paper or sustainable wood sources. While these aren’t as bad as clumping clay litters, they can still cause major clogged drains.
Plumbers from Water Tight in Canberra were recently called to a blocked toilet job. The client kept her cat’s kitty litter box next to the toilet and had been flushing the litter down the toilet for a number of years. It was paper-based kitty litter, which claimed to be flushable.
When flushed, the kitty litter was becoming water logged and had turned into a thick, paper mache-like clog. The pipes were completely blocked and raw sewage was overflowing from her unused toilet in the back of the garage. It took two Water Tight employees a number of hours to clear the clog using high-pressured jet blasting machines.
Kitty litter clogging sewer pipes. Photo credit: Water Tight Plumber.
Overflowing toilet caused by flushing kitty litter. Photo credit: Water Tight Plumber.
How to unblock a drain clogged with kitty litter
As the case study above shows, you’ll need more than a plunger to clear a drain blockage caused by flushing kitty litter. In many cases you’ll need to call a licensed tradesman with specialist machinery to clear a kitty litter drain clog. If you need help with a clogged drain, JAB Plumbing Solutions can help. Our plumbers carry the latest drain cleaning technology on the market including jet blasters and drain cameras. For more information or to receive an obligation free quote, give us a call on 1800 225 552.
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