This week MrShoestring has been spending a great deal of his time trying to get the toilet in the master bathroom to flow properly. We have had problems for a few weeks now and so over half term he resolved to tackle it properly !
All the usual remedies were tried, vinegar and baking soda, an ordinary plunger, hot water and finally he bought and used a toilet plunger. He used it so vigorously that he broke it ! Still the toilet flushed slowly and the water crept closer to the top of the bowl !
Finally , yesterday he dismantled the whole thing and poked his plumber's snake down the main drainage pipe, no blockage could be found. We were about to purchase drain rods when I suggested that we have a look down the inspection traps to the septic tank. Lo and behold a whole mess of toilet paper was clogging the entrance drains !
We have not had this problem in the ten years we have lived here but a bit of research showed that some common toilet papers now contain plastic fibres to make them smoother. These do not dissolve readily in water, hence the build up. Apparently it's not a problem for mains drains which are wider.
MrShoestring cleared the blockage, reattached the toilet and I bought 100% recycled toilet paper for use hereon out !
Mr Shoestring is a pearl beyond price!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree, especially because he cleared all the blockage by hand !!
ReplyDeleteGosh, I didn't realise that some toilet paper contains plastic fibres! That's quite shocking, what with all the plastic pollution that we see these days, we forget the plastic particles we can't see. Another reason to not buy the overpriced "posh" toilet tissue. Julie. s. Wales
ReplyDeleteYes, I was really shocked as well ! You don't realise just how many things contain plastics and for no good reason as far as I can see !
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