Kitty litter will not dissolve in water and can create clogs, even if it is labeled flushable.
Gene Weingarten, a syndicated columnist, described what happened when he flushed a small amount of cat litter down his daughter’s toilet last year.
“Cat litter is a preternaturally absorptive substance, apparently designed to expand to roughly 60,000 times its original volume in some horrible malignant process like cancer, only worse,” he wrote. “Molly’s toilet resembled one of those baking-soda-and-vinegar volcanoes the dumb kids in middle school made every year for science fairs.”
CondomsCondoms should never be flushed.
“I’ve heard condoms called sewer lilies because they fill with air or gas and float to the top,” said Cynthia Finley, the director of regulatory affairs at the National Association of Clean Water Agencies.
“As a society, I think we’ve become more germophobic,” she said, adding that there is a tendency to want to flush anything that has bodily fluids. But wastewater treatment plants are not designed to handle anything except for human waste and toilet paper, she said.
Facial tissues, paper towels and cotton swabsFacial tissues might seem safe to flush because they look so much like toilet paper. But unlike toilet paper, facial tissues have been treated with a chemical binder that takes time to release and break apart when flushed, Ms. Finley said.
Likewise, paper towels and cotton swabs are also formulated to stay intact.
When in doubt, throw it out (in a trash can)If you’re not sure, follow a simple rule: If it is not human waste or toilet paper, it should not be disposed of in the toilet, Ms. Finley said.
The cost of both drinking water and wastewater go into a water bill, said Mr. Sapienza, the New York environmental official. When cities have to send crews to unclog sewers or, in worst-case scenarios, replace them, the cost is passed down to everyone who gets a water bill, he added.
