Toilet humor can be very funny, but the list of potty items Bluewater Plumbers has released this month which they’ve retrieved from customer’s loos, ranges from dead pets to mobile phones to wallets – taking ‘spending a penny’ to a complete new level!
Bluewater Plumbers have in the past month flushed out a Dead hamster, A Dead rat, Sentimental jewelry! a child’s toy, 5 toothbrushes all from the same loo, a wallet, retrieved from the loo of a nightclub, a pair of False teeth, Lighters and cigarettes and a mobile phone.
Justin Gibbs, director of the Hyde-based business is now warning Mancunians of the dangers that being so reckless with their flushing habits can cause widespread damage, “You wouldn’t believe some of the emergencies we’ve been called out to,” he said. “All because of customers being unable to differentiate between what’s acceptable for flushing and what’s not.
“In the past few weeks, deceased pets seem to have been the main theme. We recently visited an apartment in the city centre where a poor family had to flush their pet hamster to the sewer-in-the-sky as their flat had no garden, meaning they had nowhere to bury their beloved pet. Unfortunately it caused a problem in their plumbing system which made the situation much worse.
“Similarly we’ve recently had customers flushing dead mice or rats in an attempt to get rid of them. It’s like a scene from Tom and Jerry – with an equally unfortunate ending.”
They say never work with animals or children and it seems the latter are also to blame for plumbing mishaps. Justin continued: “Contrary children at bedtime can cause all kinds of late night problems! Recently we’ve had to retrieve toothbrushes causing blockages as well as the regular, ongoing stream of toys that children are desperate to flush. Please ensure their rubber ducks swim in the bath not the bowl. The more mischievous children have been known to flush their grandparents’ false teeth too!
Amusing as the stories are though, Justin warns there’s great damage that can be caused. “Joking aside, we get so many emergency callouts for this kind of thing and I would urge households to be as vigilant as they can. Toilets are vulnerable mod cons with complex pipework really are only suitable for loo roll and not a lot else! The impact on the entire system can cause blockages that can affect your neighbours so think twice before you’re stood on the street explaining yourself to them!”
Justin says that smaller items which don’t cause as much trouble to the plumbing system can cause other issues: “Just this month we were called out to deal with a very heated domestic issue in Stockport;” he continued. “Upon arrival we found a couple having a very big argument and consequently a valuable piece of jewelry had been flushed. Something we then had to retrieve. So consider the sentimental value of something before you pull the handle! But do ‘ring’ us if this happens as we may have just saved that marriage!”
