As I tried to unplug a toilet today, I began to wonder exactly how dangerous my chore might be. What if I got splashed? What if an airborne droplet connected with my lip and I accidently swallowed it? As I ran the snake down the pipe (I know, it said not to do that on the package), I became curious as to what kind of substances I might be tearing loose. Considering what’s gone down that pipe over the decades, I would think that there is probably a pretty dangerous mess of bacteria and parasites and Lord knows what else down there. And yet, I’ve not seen many plumbers in Hazmat suits, and, as far as I know, plumbing’s not considered a very dangerous profession. Does anybody know–or have the ability to make an educated guess–what biohazards lurk in the bowels of my house?
I, and some of my other diehard UE friends, have spent time in sewers, and none of us have ever gotten sick. We obviously don’t eat or drink anything we run into, but one of my friends has a small silver bear that he recovered from one sewer, and a couple others have been in shit so deep they had to wear waders up to their chests.
I think it’d depend on how lucky you were. Get enough of the wrong kind of e. coli, and you’re in trouble. There’s also fecal coliform in vast quantities, and other nasties. Wear protection if you’re really worried.
If it’s your toilet, meaning one used mostly by you, then it follows that much of what in down the pipes is a product of your own body. Not something you would want to bathe in, but not entirely foreign to your personal ecology.
Now, someone else’s toilet migh have something exotic you haven’t been exposed to.
Even so - if you’re really concerned wear gloves and stuff, and wash up good afterwards.
I once asked a city sewer worker how many shots he got & he said 6.
I don’t think you can ‘catch’ anything just touching the water with your hands. But if you get it in a cut or your eye, thats another matter. Cecil talks about washing your hands after touching yourself, even if its your own germs & it seems important to do so.
A junkie friend of mine , back in the sixties, was in the cubicle of a public toilet and needed water to dissolve his heroin for injection. He couldnt go to the sink to fill his syringe as there were people out there, so he flushed the toilet and took some water from the bowl. Hes still around.
Some years ago I took care of a patient who had a brain disorder which led to intense and unrelenting thirst*. One time, when her blood salts were way out of whack, she was admitted to hospital if for no other reason than to restrict her access to water. So, the taps in her room were turned off, she was given limited quantities of fluids, etc. (You know where this is going, don’t you?)
Of course, she was found drinking from the toilet bowl in her room. Knowing who had occupied that same room over the years, and the illnesses they had, I still gag just thinking about it.
The patient did just fine (and she’s still thirsty).
[sub][sup]*and, for the doc’s out there, I’ll add that she also had autonomous ADH secretion - a nasty combination if there ever was one[/sup][/sub]
