children are known to throw in plastic toy inside the toilet bowl and also try to flush them which might in the end get stuck. This article will try as much as possible to explain what you should do to get rid of plastic in your plumbing system so as to get your plumbing system working again.
On the other hand Most people think that they could just flush a small size plastic into their drain; after all it is just a small size plastic that will find it way through the pipes but they are totally wrong. Plastic are known to have a damaging effect not only to our environment but to the toilet network system.
In fact incorrect items like plastic and other related materials that is flush into the toilet causes about 300,000 sewer blockage in the UK alone.
Contents
What happens if plastic goes down the drain?
Anytime items that are not human waste or rather tissue paper are flushed down the toilet there might be serious problems, because with time this accumulate and form Fatbergs. Have it in your mind that fatbergs are much capable of causing serious damage like it could block your entire drainage system completely.
Hope you are aware that Plastics are non-biodegradable? This means that plastic are not known to breakdown. even in a long period of time plastic wont still break down.
When plastic gets into your drainage system it could stick somewhere along the drainage system and accumulate with other food or left over materials that find their way into the drainage system and over time this could led to clogging.
reasons why you shouldn’t flush plastic :
- Plastic could damage the structure of the sewer over time.
- Clog that result from plastic could cause Health hazards due to sewage spills
- There could also be Pollution of lakes, rivers and streams
- It could also results to Drain and Sewage flooding
- Last it could cause Serious flooding during heavy rain
When you Flush any plastic down your drain, this can cause clog as the plastic sit in your pipe and with time it will cause other related problems like build-up along the pipes.
As Plastic accumulate over a long period of time, there won’t be free flow of water. When there is no free flow of water this could further lead to leaks that could affect building foundation, wallet and your environment
Summary of what we said so far:
- Plastic can easily get caught in your p trap and this could cause problems there. When this happens just remove immediately otherwise you might be facing a bigger issue if the plastic eventually gets trap in other sections of your plumbing system.
- Plastic are already a burden to our environment. You get to see micro-plastic everywhere. Micro plastic can be discharge into the water which will result to more problems to marine life.
- Moreover plastic in the sewer could cause more problems to the sewage treatment plant
- With plastic trapped somewhere along the pipe, it will make your toilet not available for use. It could cause you more money to get your toilet usable again .
Does plastic flush?
If you have ever experienced a clog in your drainage system then you will agree that its no fun. No,your toilet is not designed to flush plastic, hence it cannot handle plastics.
plastic should not be flush down the toilet under any circumstances, even though it goes through just remember that plastic dont ever dissolve
Is there a drain cleaner that dissolves plastic?
You can make use of Liquid-Plumr which is known to eat away anything that causes clog in your drainage pipes but Liquid-Plumr should not be used frequently. In fact expert warns that Liquid-Plumr could slowly cause damage to your pipes as they are not designed for frequent use.
How long do you let Liquid-Plumr sit?
You have to pour Liquid-Plumr in your toilet and wait for just 15 minutes and allow it to sit before you now flush with water. But in some cases you can just allow Liquid-Plumr sit overnight if you are not getting the desired result under 15 minutes or more.
What do you do when plastic gets stuck in the toilet?
When it comes to getting rid of plastic in your toilet there are several solutions. You could make use of chemicals or rather some of the step listed below here:
Turn off water supply :
you should first turn of water the water supply to prevent overflow
Close the flapper: you should put on rubber gloves and close the flapper.
Reach into the toilet trap:
the curved part of your toilet is called the P Trap . This should be the first place any object could get stuck in so you should just open the P Trap
A plunger will help :
get a better plugger that can better seal off the hole ; hopefully with several thrust with the perfect plunger the plastic could be dislodge from where its trapped.
Make use of a snake:
with the right snake you could either retrieve or dislodge the plastic from your toilet. Note that there are some snake that does a better job dislodging an object while others are good at retrieving an object from the toilet and also which ever one you buy make sure its made of steel and also have crank handle.
What will dissolve plastic stuck in toilet?
You can make use of boiling water which is highly recommended by expert because hot water is known to melt, squeeze or soften the objects or plastic that is blocking the free flow of water and when the plastic gets soften or squeeze there will be space for the plastic to move along the pipe
How do you get plastic out of the shower drain?
Flush with plenty of water:
You are going to get this done with a bucket of water ; with this you get more water that will run with more force than what you get from the normal flush
make use of a Plunger to Create Pressure:
Arm yourself with a very good plunger and this could seamlessly get off the plastic from the toilet.
Boiling water also helps:
Boiling water has been of help and an easy way out to get clogged drainage system unclog
Process:
- Boil your water in a pot and this should be large amount of water,
- Turn off the toilet bowl water lines,
- All water from the toilet bowl should be drain as you can.
- The final step involves pouring your hot water directly into your toilet bowl and allow it to run through for few minutes after turning on the water lines/flush with a very good plunger.
Squirt Gun Toilet Drainer:
if your plunger fails to do a perfect job then i think you need something that will produce more force and that tool is the Squirt Gun Toilet Drainer
Does caustic soda dissolve plastic?
Caustic soda is a chemical known to be corrosive and its destructive not only to metal but also to plumbing pipes. caustic soda will cause harm to pipes made of plastic if you attempt to use it to get rid of plastic from your drainage system ‘
Why Not Use Chemicals to Dissolve Plastic in the Toilet?
You know that your toilet pipes are made of plastic and chemicals are not friendly with those pipes as they tend to generate much heat capable of deforming the pipe or melt it altogether.
Your metal pipes are not even safe because they could corrode over a long period of time which might not be noticeable at first.
Sources:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844020318417
https://www.wildonuk.co.uk/news/what-happens-when-you-flush-plastics-down-the-toilet/