World Construction Symposium

Tampons: Can You Flush Them?

5 March 2015 by Wallace Simmons

Many women struggle with the decision of whether or not to flush tampons down the toilet, and unfortunately, women get mixed messages about whether or not flushing tampons is an acceptable practice. Some tampon companies specifically market their tampons as flushable products, however, plumbers like those from Archie Johnstone Plumbing & Heating Ltd tell a different story. 

Toilets Should Only Be Used to Flush Two Things

Never flush anything besides toilet paper and human waste. Toilet paper is specially formulated to breakup within minutes of being flushed, which means that even if your toilet paper clogs the pipes in your home or in your sewer, the clog won't last for long. The pipes that lead from your house into your sewer are designed to carry only human waste, water and toilet paper, and nothing else. 

Tampons Don't Biodegrade Quickly Enough

Many tampons contain organic materials like cotton; however, tampons are designed to not biodegrade quickly. This is what makes tampons safe to insert into your body: they're made from durable material that will last for a long time in a moist environment. In fact, some sources say that tampons can take up to 6 months to break down.

This means that, unlike toilet paper, when tampons become lodged in the pipes of your home or in the sewer, a sewage backup could be the end result. One stuck tampon could cost you hundreds of dollars in damage, as well as a substantial plumbing bill. 

Even the Tampons that Don't Cause Clogs Still Cost You Money

Water treatment plants across the country report that "flushable" products like tampons, personal wipes and even some types of thick toilet paper can cost rate payers millions of dollars over time. 

So why are these products marketed as "flushable?" Put simply, products that are labeled as flushable are voluntarily tested by the companies that make them. There is no third-party testing to ensure that these products are truly as flushable as they claim to be. 

The fact is that many tampons will travel through the pipes of your house and into your sewer without ever creating a problem. You can flush tampons successfully tens or hundreds of times. However, suck tampons can result in a backup that can cost you money. In addition, tampons can do damage to the sewers, costing your community thousands or millions of dollars. 

The next time you consider flushing your tampons down the toilet, think again. Throwing tampons away in the garbage is the less costly option. 

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