25 things that should never be flushed down the drain

Flushing all manner of things down the drain may be the quick and easy thing to do. However, that kind of attitude is what is leading to hundreds of millions of dollars in damages in waterways across the country. 

The manufacturers of many of these items compound the problem by describing their products as "flushable", and the unsuspecting general public takes the manufacturers at their word. However, studies have shown that all of these items that are sold as flushable, hae so far failed the industry's disintegration tests. 

Nappies should always be disposed off with the rest of the trash. It should never be flushed down the drain. That is because they are made of material that is not designed to break down in water. Flushed nappies are one of the biggest causes of blocked waterways, and the blockages they cause require millions of taxpayer dollars to put right. Never flush nappies down the drain. 

There is the belief that because medicine breaks down easily in water, it is okay to throw expired pills down the drain. The thing is, when you flush medication down the toilet, most of the chemicals end up in lakes and waterways. There are no filters that can clean the water that has been contaminated by medicine. This is why the government has setup  medication collection programs. Rather than causing serious damage to marine life, take your expired medicines to the closest medication collection program to you. 

Dental floss is made material that isn’t biodegradable. What happens when you flush dental floss down the toilet is that it combines with clumps of hair, toilet paper, wipes, sanitary products, and other items that should never be flushed. When this happens, large clumps that clog sewers and pumps are formed, and drains are blocked with all of this gunk. This leads to damages that require tax payer dollars to fix. 

Now, coffee grounds actually help to eliminate odors and even clean your garbage disposal. And you’ll find lots of articles online that suggest that it is safe and even recommended to flush coffee grounds down the drain. It is all of this advice that had led to coffee grounds being one of the biggest causes of drain clogs. The fact of the matter is that coffee grounds do not break down in water. In fact, what happens is that they clog together to form pipe blocking gunk which again will require tax payer dollars to fix. 

If you have no idea what to do with your old coffee grounds, here are 7 cool things that you can do with coffee grounds: 

You should never flush egg shells down your drains because they will not be broken down if they happen to settle in your pipes. And it doesn’t matter if you break it up into tiny pieces. The problem is that the pieces can get stuck to each other. When this happens, the sharp, hard edges of the shell will simply collect other foreign objects that have been thrown down the drain, and they all of these items will combine to form large blockages that will need lots of resources to fix. 

According to new research, flushing feminine hygeine products down the drain can be very damaging to marine life. And it doesn’t help that sanitary pads, tampons and other similar products are labeled as “flushable”. They are not. Feminine hygiene products are absorbent. This means that when you flush them, that increases the risk of drain clogs. After you have used them, the best way to dispose of feminine hygiene products is to simply wrap them up in a newspaper or any other type of waste paper and put in a trash can with the rest of the other garbage.

Wet wipes are a major problem when it comes to blocked drains. In fact, they are responsible for over 80% of UK drainage blockages. Water companies maintain that they are a key component of the notorious obstacles which are also known as fatbergs. The biggest problem with wet wipes is that they are marketed by manufacturers as flushable, but according to a BBC report:  all of the wet wipes sold as flushable have so far failed the water industry’s disintegration tests. 

Foods like rice and pasta are among the items that you should never flush down your drains. This is because they are absorbent, and swell in size as they soak in the water. Even though they eventually dissolve, it takes a very long time for them to do. Before they disintegrate, they get stuck in the pipes which could easily result in a clog. Instead of throwing them the kitchen sink, scrape the leftovers into the garbage can rather throwing them down the rubbish disposal.