Vaping in school toilets causing new plumbing crisis

Remember being at high school? Smoking in the toilets was a common problem. Even if you didn’t smoke yourself, you knew people who did.

Someone would always be on alert for a teacher and when they were seen approaching, butts would be hurriedly flushed down the toilet. “No evidence, no charge” was the ploy.

Flash forward to 2023 and the same scenario is being played out in hundreds of secondary colleges across the state. Except the problem now is much worse and the consequences for the school’s plumbing systems are terrible.

Instead of smoking in the toilets today, many kids are vaping. And when a teacher approaches, the same strategy is employed. But it’s e-cigarettes that are being flushed down the toilet, not cigarettes. Given the size and weight of a vaping device compared to a cigarette butt, the action of flushing them down the toilet is having serious consequences for the school’s plumbing system.?

The reason is simple. Flush 6 cigarette butts down the toilet and they flush away easily. They are small, light, float and don’t clump together to cause a blockage. But an e-cigarette can be 11 cm long and weigh about 12 grams each. The water flush will struggle to push them down into the sewer and they will most likely all collect together. Add some toilet paper to the next flush and you’ve got a serious blockage right there.?????????

“A few years ago we would never get a call from a school for a blockage caused by flushed e-cigarettes. Now they are much more common,” says Brendan Dover aka “The Drain Man”.

“Just last week a school in Melbourne gave us a call and when we went there and put the camera down the sewer to investigate the cause of the blockage, that’s what we saw - 6 vapes combined with toilet paper and you had one hell of a blockage!”

“Of course we cleared it,” said Brendan, “but I hate to think how many times this problem will repeat in the future and most likely at schools not just all through Melbourne but Sydney too, and probably the whole of Australia!”

“I don’t really know what schools can do to prevent this problem except perhaps to have more monitoring in toilets,” Mr Dover said.

E-cigarettes are not the only things being flushed down toilets… every year thousands of blockages are caused by things being flushed down the toilet that just shouldn’t be.

“In the end, always remember,” says Brendan, “there are only 3 things you should ever flush down a toilet and they all begin with the letter P – pee, poo and paper. But only toilet paper. Not wipes, not tissues, not paper towels.”?

If you suspect your school may be having problems with e-cigarettes being flushed down the toilet or if your business is having problems with repeated drain blockages, talk to us about an in-drain camera inspection that can reveal the true source of the blockage and open the door to a long-term solution. Or for assistance with clearing any type of blocked drain call The Drain Man on 1800 843 372 or visit thedrainman.com.au