Flush/ don't flush tampons??

madys

Wed, Dec 07 2016, 9:09 am

bigsis144 wrote:

I was at a girls' sleepaway camp one summer when the septic system failed -- yup, it was the junior high girls flushing their tampons. That entire section of the camp smelled like a sewer for weeks. *shudder*

I don't understand why women think it's okay to flush tampons!

The tampons say "don't flush", every public bathroom I've been in has waste bins for sanitary products and a large number of them have additional signs reminding people to dispose of sanitary products instead of flushing... I guess enough people must be breaking that rule to make the signs necessary, but how could so many people be ignoring the BLATANT signage???

I always assumes sanitary products were pads, which I always thought was obvious, until I had a back-up

sweetpotato

Wed, Dec 07 2016, 10:27 am

The only solid things you can flush down the toilet are toilet paper and poop. Nothing else is meant to be flushed: not tampons, not wipes (even the ones that claim to be "flushable"), pads, diapers, paper towels, cotton balls, floss, cooking oil, nothing. Even if it doesn't back up your personal plumbing system, it won't disintegrate in the main sewage system. This has caused "fatbergs" to build up in major cities like New York and London: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatberg

amother

Beige

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 7:35 am

bigsis144 wrote:

OP here. I'll be honest. I thought those little metal bins on the stall walls were for pads. Not tampons.

Thanks everyone for responding. I adjusted to throwing them in the trash. It doesn't actually smell. I thought it would. But then again, I do empty my bath trash at least once daily. It's tiny.

It's so interesting what we take for granted and assume everyone else is also doing. Really had no clue most people don't flush them.