Tony's Sheds Some Light

In today’s world there’s a whole slew of false information at our fingertips. You see all kinds of things, erroneous claims and misinformed posts on the internet, some of them are downright comical. Due to the ever revolving door of nonsense out there, we wanted to shed some light on the myths that circulate the plumbing world, and potentially save you some cash from avoiding a couple hazardous mistakes!

• Hot water melts grease and doesn’t harm your pipes. This one seems to be legit, because hot water does melt grease, and does make turn it into a liquid. Unfortunately, it’s false, because once that hot grease travels down your pipe, it cools down returning to a sticky pipe clogging lump of costly grossness.

• Toilets flush the opposite direction in Australia. This one is for giggles, because I’d like to believe that nobody takes Bart Simpson at his word. For those of you that did, the answer is no, toilets all around the world flush just like ours do. The way the water in the toilet flushes is actually determined by the jets within, so while it’s possible a couple down there flush backwards, there’s also a couple here that do too.
• Ice cubes sharpen the blades in your garbage disposal. Nobody knows exactly where this one originated, but it’s incorrect on two accounts. Your garbage disposal doesn’t have blades, perse, but angular nodes called impellers that actually slice the food particles into a mushy liquid allowing them to travel through the drain. So, the idea that ice cubes could sharpen the nonexistent blades is inaccurate, and also why would ice sharpen metal?
• Animals can’t enter the home through your toilet. This one, albeit terrifying, is also false. Small animals like rats and lizards can enter your home through the sewer and piping, finding their way into your bathroom. Note to self; always look before sitting down.
• It’s safe to shower during a lightning storm. Like all the others on this list, this is also false. The metal piping in your home is a great conductor and can electrocute you while you’re in the tub. Better safe than sorry, and wait to shower until after the storm ends.
• Putting a brick in the back of the toilet saves water. Again, false. This does nothing to save water, and could actually cause more damage than good. If the brick is old and breaks down, it could contaminate the water, and you could have pieces of brick stuck inside your flusher. There are much better products on the market to save a little water, please keep the bricks where they belong!

These are just a couple of the plumbing myths we’ve heard over the years, but the list is quite long as people tend to believe anything these days! We’re here to drop some knowledge on all your plumbing questions, and would love to hear from you! What are some of the best plumbing myths you’ve heard lately?

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