I had a minor leak in my toilet, which the plumber quickly sorted out.
Because he had to replace a decayed pipe (coming out of the wall), I turned off the water while he made a small amount of debris (brick dust etc).
When I got back in, I saw he had tried to flush the debris down the toilet. Being heavy it hadn’t gone round the bend.
So now I have some ‘gravel’ sitting on the base of my toilet. It doesn’t move when I flush.
Is this a health risk?
How do I remove it?
Over to you, Dopers!
It’s not great for your plumbing to flush non-biodegradable stuff, especially if you have a septic tank.
Best way to get it out is with a Wet-Dry Vac. If you don’t have one, then the icky way to do it is to turn off the valve, empty the bowl as best you can, and then don a long-cuffed vinyl glove and scoop out the debris.
… or just pick the stuff out and then wash your hands. Anything too small to grab will get flushed eventually.
You can wear gloves if you really want, but nothing in there is going to kill you on contact, you know. I mean, I wouldn’t drink toilet water if I had a choice, but I wouldn’t drink motor oil either, and I don’t freak out if I get some on my hands.
Anway, that’s today’s announcement from the Society Against Excessive Germophobia.
JUst hypothetically, what if I had a cut on my hand?
What happens if you have a cut and you accidentally touch some shit on the toilet paper? Wash your hand.
There is nothing wrong with using a glove (and if it really bothers someone, it is better to use the glove than to try to flush gravel down the system), but for the most part, anyone who has changed diapers (or engaged in some varieties of sex) has had more contact with germs than one would generally encounter in a toilet that had already been flushed a time or two before trying to extract the gravel.
I would say the important thing would be for the person to reflect on his or her own aversion feelings about what might be in the toilet (and look for any breaks in the skin) and make his or her own choice regarding gloves or soap without making it an issue for anyone else who may have different levels of “ick” or skin damage.
Given the chemicals in the standard toilet freshener blocks etc, I’d suggest that gloves are a good idea.