You’ve lost some weight since when you first got married, but you haven’t had time to get your ring resized. You’re washing your hands, and they’re slick with soap. Oh no, your wedding ring slips off, and now it’s down the drain!
Unfortunately, that’s a pretty common scenario plumbers see. But what else gets stuck in the black abyss of drains and pipes?
Read on to find out 9 weird things plumbers have found down the drain while on the job.
1. Dentures
A man found himself with a clogged toilet, and as expected, called the plumber to come fix the issue. The technician took a close look at the pipes, and voila: he fished out both upper and lower dentures!
Coincidentally, the man had been wondering where he placed his dentures. As it turns out, he was intoxicated the night before and in that state, probably accidentally dropped them in the toilet. We certainly hope he thoroughly sanitized his dentures before reinserting them in his mouth!
2. $12,000 in Quarters
That’s right: $12,000 in quarters. That’s not an accidental few zeros tacked on!
In a customer’s home, the gravity line was blocked up. A plumber was called out, and he found a huge amount of quarters creating the blockage.
As he fished them all out, they filled up two 5-gallon buckets. The strange thing is, to this day, no one knows where these quarters came from. What a lucky find!
3. Illicit Drugs
This one’s not so weird, especially when you take airport bathrooms into account. Many criminals try to smuggle drugs from country to country; some may chicken out and try and ditch their drugs in the toilets.
Depending on how they’ve packaged the drugs and how big it is, their illicit bundles can easily clog the toilets up.
For any criminals thinking of smuggling drugs through John F. Kennedy Airport, they’ll be totally out of luck. They now have a high-tech “Drug Loo,” which can filter drugs from your waste and sanitize it.
4. Used Diapers
Used diapers can be quite smelly. Even if you dispose of them in a covered trash can, the stink can be so bad it makes its way out of there and into your nostril.
Understandably, some desperate parents may try flushing these stink bombs down the toilet instead of disposing of them in the trash can. But this is a huge mistake, as it’ll just clog the toilet and send the dirty diapers (and other sewage!) back up the pipes.
5. Smartphones
We know what you’re thinking: who would willingly flush away a smartphone, which could easily cost over $500?
It turns out that the majority of the flushed smartphones were broken. So instead of disposing of electronics properly, these plumbing customers decided to be lazy and flush them instead.
What they probably didn’t realize was this would cost them more money and hassle in the long run! Lesson learned: always recycle your electronics in the proper facilities, or pay the price.
6. Expandable Toy Dinosaur
Children are hard to keep track of, especially if you have other chores to take care of. This may be why a sneaky child managed to throw his toy dinosaur into the toilet.
But this was no ordinary toy dinosaur—it was a foam toy that expanded with exposure to water. So, as you’ve probably guessed, it created a formidable clog once it settled in the toilet’s pipes.
In fact, once the plumber retrieved the toy dinosaur, it was twice its original size!
7. Hygiene Products
We get it: hygiene products (such as tampons, wet wipes, and cleaning sponges) aren’t the most pleasant things to deal with. So a quick way to dispose of them is to flush them down the toilet. Out of sight, out of mind, right?
Unfortunately, these are the things that can cause the biggest clogs. Tampons swell with water, and wet wipes don’t break down, which means these can all cause a significant backup in your pipes.
Clogs can get so bad they affect entire neighborhood sewage systems! So don’t flush these things. Read the instructions, and dispose of them properly.
8. An Electric Razor
This story starts out the same as the others. A customer found their toilet was clogged, so they called the plumber to come take a look.
The plumber arrived, and put his snake tool down the drain. This is where the story gets crazy!
Once the snake tool was far enough down the drain, it started vibrating! He fished out the item blocking the drain and found it was an electric razor that still worked.
They figured out the customer’s cat had mischievously swiped the electric razor off a shelf and into the toilet. And the way the plumber fed the snake tool into the drain was just right to hit the power button.
9. Miniature Bottles of Liquor
A business found itself with a backed-up sewer main, which caused some real problems. The sinks and toilets in every bathroom overflowed, which meant the had a huge clog on their hands.
The plumber on the job found a large stash of empty miniature liquor bottles piled up in the sewage line. The business then figured out an employee was drinking on the job and hiding the evidence by flushing it.
Don’t Lose Your Belongings Down the Drain
If you don’t want to end up on this list, then take care whenever you’re near an open drain. But we understand: accidents happen. Should you lose something down the drain, be sure to get an expert plumber on the job so you can get your belongings back again.
Got a wedding ring stuck down the drain? Then book an appointment with us now! Our pro plumbers will get your most treasured possession out of there promptly.
