Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Flushing the toilet after every wee.

262 replies

Squirrelchops1 · 08/02/2026 20:24

10 litres per flush is a huge amount of water per wee (that's what I believe our cistern holds).
I don't think it's necessary to flush after every wee. My friend thinks I'm tight and unhygienic.
What's your view...
Are you a 'if it's yellow let it mellow'...I am reasonable
Or...'eww you filthy sod'..I am unreasonable

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
XenoBitch · 12/02/2026 22:15

scalt · 11/02/2026 21:41

Right now, water is the one commodity in great abundance, as it won’t stop falling from the sky.

And? I don't recall getting money off my water bill if it has been raining lots.

Livpool · 12/02/2026 19:24

I’m with you OP - such a waste of water.

I wfh and don’t always flush after a wee when home alone. If we have guests of course I do

MusicWasMyFirstLove · 12/02/2026 19:22

loislovesstewie · 12/02/2026 07:21

Really????

Show quote history

I was laughing as I typed it 😂

InveterateWineDrinker · 12/02/2026 07:45

SpanielLover356 · 12/02/2026 07:41

Yet, apparently the reservoirs are not full. Wondering how much rain we have to have to fill them. Possibly it's the wrong sort of rain. 🙄

Show quote history

Very little of the UK's water supply is stored in reservoirs. Most of it is in underground aquifers, and these have been severely depleted over many years. Rain which sits on top of saturated soil as floodwater, then flows away down rivers, doesn't percolate down into the rock; it is, indeed, the wrong sort of rain.

Ultimately our water management strategy is based on rainfall and usage assumptions that no longer hold true. Our track record of adapting to climate change is rather suboptimal in every other aspect, so it's hardly surprising that we're rushing headlong into a water shortage catastrophe.

SpanielLover356 · 12/02/2026 07:41

scalt · 11/02/2026 21:41

Right now, water is the one commodity in great abundance, as it won’t stop falling from the sky.

Yet, apparently the reservoirs are not full. Wondering how much rain we have to have to fill them. Possibly it's the wrong sort of rain. 🙄

SpanielLover356 · 12/02/2026 07:38

It's just DH & me, we don't flush after every wee. But if we're expecting or have visitors we do.

loislovesstewie · 12/02/2026 07:21

MusicWasMyFirstLove · 11/02/2026 22:01

What's wrong with that?

Show quote history

Really????

MusicWasMyFirstLove · 11/02/2026 22:01

blooooooor · 08/02/2026 21:35

You are tight and unhygienic 🤢 anyone who doesn’t flush… that stinks! What’s next, sharing bath water between entire family?

What's wrong with that?

carly2803 · 11/02/2026 22:00

sometimes!

If we are all going out i willl shout leave the loo (long as its only a wee!) then flush once we have all been
or in a morning "left the loo for you" (wee only!) then flush

Grizelina · 11/02/2026 21:49

Isittimeformynapyet · 11/02/2026 21:35

What... Nothing?

Show quote history

Whilst toilet training flushing is important don’t you know!

scalt · 11/02/2026 21:41

Right now, water is the one commodity in great abundance, as it won’t stop falling from the sky.

CheddarCheeseAndCrispSandwich · 11/02/2026 21:41

I live alone, so theoretically could leave it I guess. But I don’t! Pee smells of you leave it…🥴

Isittimeformynapyet · 11/02/2026 21:35

Grizelina · 08/02/2026 21:01

Flush every single time and always ensure I leave it how I’d like to find it! Even 2 year old GD flushes every time as “we like toilets clean don’t we”! Can’t think of anything worse than a toilet with the previous users waste in it.

Edited

What... Nothing?

Original poster
Squirrelchops1 · 11/02/2026 21:25

RobertaFirmino · 11/02/2026 21:14

If your cistern is a 10 litre, it must be quite old. Modern bogs have cisterns with a 6 litre capacity and dual flush - 4 litres for wee, the full 6 litres for poo. Maybe think about upgrading?

Thanks. I've asked partner as I'd not realised there's dual flush so I'll use that going forward

OP posts:
MusicWasMyFirstLove · 11/02/2026 21:16

ScarlettSarah · 08/02/2026 20:33

Flush every time. Disgusting not to.

It's really not.
It's environmentally unfriendly.
You can close the lid on the toilet and open a window if you eat a lot of asparagus.

RobertaFirmino · 11/02/2026 21:14

If your cistern is a 10 litre, it must be quite old. Modern bogs have cisterns with a 6 litre capacity and dual flush - 4 litres for wee, the full 6 litres for poo. Maybe think about upgrading?

greengreengrass3 · 11/02/2026 20:50

Evaka · 08/02/2026 21:10

I voted wrong, you're not unreasonable.

I flush every few wees when it's just the two of us. Also keep bath water for a day and use that to flush. Stops the bath guilt!

If taking a bath came with guilt of needing to keep the water to flush the toilet, I’d really not bother.

Thewalrusandthecarpenter · 11/02/2026 20:37

Hillarious · 08/02/2026 22:04

Spent some time in Bermuda, where they harvest rainwater as there’s no fresh water on the islands. They cope well enough there not flushing after every use and not having a running tap whilst cleaning teeth. A masterclass in water conservation.

Yes! I lived there for 10 years and posted earlier on this.

Soontobesingles · 09/02/2026 20:37

InveterateWineDrinker · 09/02/2026 14:48

Using this logic, you wouldn't get clean in your own bathwater, and you'd still be at risk of infection from your own bacteria.

Show quote history

Well there’s a limit surely? I generally wouldn’t have a bath if I was absolutely filthy, a bath is a luxury for me. But my limit is generally my own sweat, sloughed off skin etc is the price of having a bath - other people’s not so much.

Doggymummar · 09/02/2026 20:16

I don't think anyone is talking about going weeks, that is gross. 8 flush when I go as I us3 paper, DH doesn't use paper so he doesn't flush. So it's every other wee

Stressedoutmummyof3 · 09/02/2026 16:45

What are you doing with your toilet paper? If we don't flush our toilet it gets blocked really easily. I can't imagine doing 3 or 4 weeks before flushing, unless I then want to spend 20 minutes unblocking the toilet.
DH doesn't flush if it's just a wee and I find it disgusting. Apart from anything else it smells, especially if he goes late at night and it's left until the next morning.

WeAllHaveWings · 09/02/2026 16:35

Dh and ds do not drink enough water to make leaving the loo unflushed a pleasant prospect.

Its not something I think about really (water isn’t metered here)

bobby81 · 09/02/2026 15:40

We always flush. It’s never crossed my mind not to!

loislovesstewie · 09/02/2026 14:50

InveterateWineDrinker · 09/02/2026 14:48

Using this logic, you wouldn't get clean in your own bathwater, and you'd still be at risk of infection from your own bacteria.

Show quote history

Which is why I only shower. I consider baths to be filthy.

InveterateWineDrinker · 09/02/2026 14:48

Soontobesingles · 09/02/2026 13:49

Yes, I don't think you get properly clean sitting in someone else's bathwater/with someone else in the bath. I feel the bacteria would be an infection risk for me. Obviously, I have occasionally bathed with my kids over the years, but would shower after, or strip wash, because I would not feel sufficiently clean.

Show quote history

Using this logic, you wouldn't get clean in your own bathwater, and you'd still be at risk of infection from your own bacteria.