PET owners are being urged not to flush animal waste down the loo after leading drain specialists, Dyno-Rod, revealed a large number of blockages are caused by toilet abuse.
To highlight an increase in the number of emergency calls from reckless pet owners and distressed neighbours the experts are encouraging customers to stop and think before they drop and sink anything down the pan that could cause problems.
“We had a call out to see a woman whose pipes had been blocked. Sewage was coming up through the bath and she had a young baby – she was beside herself with frustration,” said Michael Dymock of Dyno-Rod in Glasgow.
“While clearing the drains we discovered the cause of the problem was that the flat next door had been flushing puppy training nappies down the toilet.
“If you are in a block of flats then whatever goes down the toilet goes down the communal stack and if it gets stuck the whole system is blocked.”
On another occasion, plumbers encountered a cat owner who had been flushing kitty litter down the toilet to save the effort of putting it in the bin.
“The woman had been flushing biodegradable cat litter down the toilet thinking it was ok because it would break down by itself,” said Mr Dymock.
“The trouble with cat litter is that it’s designed to absorb moisture and it swells up. By the time we were called out, the litter had almost completely filled the manhole and mainline sewer outside her house which caused a major blockage to both her and her neighbour’s drains.”
However, cat and dog lovers aren’t the only ones causing a stink as hamster owners have also been known to seek the convenience of flushing away their pet’s waste.
Recently, plumbers had to excavate a year’s worth of sawdust from a drain belonging to a hamster owner.
“The guy stayed in a flat and yet again it was more than just his own flat that was affected but we sorted the mess out,” said Mr Dymock.
“Animal lovers have to bear in mind that their lazy actions, should they decide to deposit waste from their pet down the toilet, can have consequences for people who live around them.
“We are calling on them to deposit their animal waste in the bin and treat their neighbours with the same respect they give to their pets.”
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