Why Is My Toilet Overflowing?
Your toilet is one of the most important plumbing features in your home. While regular maintenance will help you avoid at least 80% of common plumbing problems, the other 20% of the time can catch you off guard. Dealing with an overflowing toilet can be one of the more annoying problems because it’s most often due to an unexpected clog in the plumbing pipe system.
There have been some strange drain clogs over time but the more common clogs are what leads to your toilets overflowing.
What Causes A Toilet To Overflow?
Just like a clog, when your toilet overflows it means that there is a blockage in the plumbing system. This blockage prevents water from flowing freely away from your toilet drain. Unfortunately, since the water has no way to go forward, clean water and wastewater end up combining and the mixture comes back up the pipe and causes your toilet bowl to overflow. There are other common causes of a toilet overflow such as issues with the septic tank or malfunctioning plumbing, but that will need the expertise of a licensed plumber to resolve.
Remember, all overflow water needs to be cleaned up as quickly as possible. Wastewater contains bacteria like E.coli, which is not only harmful to your health, but the overflow can also cause extensive water damage to your property.
Where Can The Clog Occur?
Overflow water is generally caused by a clog, unfortunately, you can’t predict where the clog will occur but you can try to prevent it using the following tips.
Toilet Bowl
The most common clog that causes an overflowing toilet, would be a clogged toilet bowl. This happens when you try to flush certain items down the drain that don’t belong there.
The only things that belong in your toilet plumbing are waste, water, and toilet paper. Things that you shouldn’t flush include, but are not limited to, diapers, sanitary products, solid items, paper towels, and even wet-wipes. You may think that paper towels can be flushed but they’re thicker than normal toilet paper and do not break apart as easily when flushed. To avoid clogs caused by wet-wipes, dispose of them in the trash.
A simple remedy is to try using a plunger to resolve a clogged toilet bowl.
Drain Pipes
Your toilet water flows through the drain pipes away from your home. They flow directly to your city’s sewage system. There are instances, where a drain pipe becomes clogged due to flushing incompatible items. Remember that there is no straight path a drain pipe can take, so it will have multiple bends. This is where objects end up getting trapped. Eventually, a backlog of waste will occur and you’ll find yourself dealing with an overflowing toilet.
You shouldn’t attempt to clear extensive drain blockages on your own, you should call a professional and licensed plumber to help clear your drain.
Broken Plumbing
There may be an issue with your toilet. It could be due to a broken tank float mechanism or an issue with the handle itself. Depending on the type of water that the toilet is overflowing with (clean water vs wastewater), you should contact a professional plumber.
Plunge Right In
While you may not need a licensed plumber for every occasion and there’s nothing stopping you from attempting to use a plunger to clear a clogged toilet, there will be times when you need to step back and call in the expert team at Art Rooter, Sewer & Drain Cleaning. We’ll help you solve all your overflow toilet issues in a flash!
