The Do-Not-Flush Index for Whitby Drains
A toilet is built for paper and body waste, nothing else. Fats, wipes, and many everyday products cause clogs in homes and in municipal sewers.
- Step-by-step, written from real jobs
- Tools to have ready and safe stopping points
- Where to stop and hand it to a licensed plumber
- Licensed plumbing trade
- Camera before digging
- Written job notes
- Phone-only booking
Summary card
A toilet is built for paper and body waste, nothing else. Fats, wipes, and many everyday products cause clogs in homes and in municipal sewers.
So-called flushable wipes stay intact long after tissue has fallen apart and tangle in pipes and pumps. Grease hardens. Medicines should be returned to pharmacies.
The procedure
- Keep wipes, including those labelled flushable, out of the toilet
- Let fat cool in a tin, then drop it in the green bin
- Fit a mesh strainer over each tub and shower drain
- Do not pour paint, solvents or medicine down drains; use household hazardous waste depots
- Run cold water with a garbage disposal and skip fibrous scraps
Tools to have at hand
- Bin in the bathroom
- Plunger
Do it in this order
- 01
Flush only toilet paper and human waste
- 02
Bin wipes, even if labelled flushable
- 03
Bin dental floss, cotton swabs and hygiene products
- 04
Never pour grease or paint down a drain
- 05
Keep a plunger beside every toilet
Wipes do not break down. They catch on joints and build into blockages in the main.
Whitby Plumbing, from the job
Stop and phone a plumber if
- Toilet clogs more than once a month
- Floor drain backs up
- Toilets gurgle when other drains run
Notes for Whitby
The Region of Durham runs household hazardous waste depots and a green bin program. Check their current lists for what goes where.
When the desk should take over
Ring the desk if more than one drain is slow or a floor drain backs up.