Not allowed to flush loo roll

[userc]

Looking for advice please.

Live in a rented apartment, there are ongoing issues with drainage which management have largely ignored for the last couple of years (i.e., dealing with emergencies and then not taking advice that proper maintenance was needed). Big flood yesterday. Pipe is "compromised" and apparently is a big job to replace due to various structural issues.

Have now been instructed that toilet paper must not be flushed down and instead must be taken to general waste, which is down 6 flights of stairs and across the road for people on the top floors. Email breezily states other countries do this as a matter of course, and that we need to adjust our habits. They do not give a date as to when this is fixed, but it is likely to be months (I heard six).

AIBU to think this is crackers? You have a guest round, you insist they must put toilet roll in a bin and if it's a poo you'll just nip out across the road?!

If I was in a big family home that I owned I'd move to something like reuseable cloths or installing a bidet, but this is something I can't afford nor feel like I should be forced to. E.g., I run my washing machine twice a week (& don't have a tumble dryer) and it's already incredibly expensive.

Any advice?

Spiked?! Soiled

Well I can only say that a relative had to dispose of adult nappies and they were just put in the bin, they had carers too. Perhaps different councils are different but this wasnt a requirement for them.

"as if you put soiled toilet paper in the bin, no matter how you bag it, it will smell in the two week period which is standard for bin collections."

Same is true for sanpro, especially for people not as 'lucky' as Op who have no other bin to put things in than their own inside bin. Yet, it goes in the general waste.

Why on earth would it take 6 months?!

Totally irrelevant, what they do in Greece or anywhere else for that matter. This issue is in the UK.
Its totally unreasonable for any landlord to instruct you to do this, citing what they do in other countries as justification, unless this is a very short term measure whilst the remedial work is carried out.
without doubt I would contact the local environmental health dept and get their advice and guidance on what’s reasonable or not...
Good luck with this situation. 👍🏽

Am I missing something? Isn’t toilet paper made to dissolve? Genuine question.

Not really, I think it probably could dissolve if in loads of water, but when there's loads in furred up narrowed pipes it often gets caught and causes clogs.

It's common practice in plenty countries

which ones?

any counties I've visited that don't allow for paper down the toilet have never required me to walk down "6 flights of stairs and across the road for people on the top floors."

And in the European countries people keep referencing, people use a bidet as standard and then the paper is more for drying than actually wiping!

Millions of people in the world have no access to indoor toilets. Does that mean we should "get used to" having to walk down to the local park to add up to the pile of wee and poo? No FGS.

😁

In them big Asian shops that seem to sell washing baskets and pet stuff and everything else they sell a sort of plastic teapot thing, it’s for washing yourself on the toilet Asians use them. It might make things a bit easier, or have a bin in the bathroom and put tissue you’ve used in nappy bags in it wrapped up.

We use a type on our yacht that is especially designed to dissolve super quickly and people with caravans can use it as well.

Absolute nonsense. Your landlords must be breaking the law by not providing functioning toilets. I would contact council and if they don’t take speedy action I’d be phoning the local newspaper. They love scandals, and this is one, stemming as it does from long-term lack of adequate repairs and maintenance.

OP I'd be very upset about this too. But assuming you can't do anything about it right now, how about a portable bidet? We have one and it's a game changer in terms of needing very little paper if any at all, and it's not too expensive. You can install it pretty easily and you can take it with you when you move.

Bidet attachments

Maybe not ideal for your less adventurous guests.

While I think this would not be an issue for a short time, to expect people to do it for possibly six months is just not on. Especially when it seems things have got this bad due to the landlord not bothering to have the plumbing issues dealt with when advised to. At the very least I would expect a rent reduction until the issue is sorted.

When I went to Thailand about 12 years ago we were not allowed to put paper down the toilet. Their sewage systems were dire. There was a bin next to the toilet which was emptied daily (in our hotel room). There was a pistol grip type hose next to the toilet which you used to squirt your nether regions. As it was a hot country the water wasn't freezing cold. We felt so much fresher using this method. Of course, as your undercarriage was clean after hosing it off, the toilet paper that was used was clean. Also meant far less toilet paper was used as just a small amount to dry off. I wish I could have this in my own bathroom. However, I'm not sure it would work if the water was very cold!

I would not like to have to do what management are suggesting you do, but if the bags with the used toilet paper in are well sealed (maybe use scented bin liners which are available) then hopefully it won't be too much of a problem. Maybe contact Citizens Advice Bureau regarding getting the problem sorted out ASAP.

Surely that's a health hazard. Get Environmental Health on it.

And if you have bowel issues...what then? My grandfather had severe issues that meant he had to go several times a day (he also had to eat a huge amount in order to survive as food went from one end to the other too fast to be digested), what should he had done?

You need to take this higher. Call you local council for signposting about where the best place is to take this to.

Call environmental health. Properly working sewage disposal is a basic requirement.

It is because their drainage pipes are smaller than the uk so would get blocked very easily, not because they are trying to be unsanitary! Being unsanitary would be everyone throwing loo roll down the toilets...pipes getting blocked and crap going everywhere!!! Ultimately pop your loo roll in the bin by the loo and dispose of regularly

Hilarious! It's not the EU's fault! Don't be stupid 🤣🤣🤣

Temporarily I wouldn’t have an issue, I’d just get a small bin like I have for my daughters sanitary products. But when you’re paying a huge amount of rent, and no date it will be fixed then I’d be annoyed. Write a formal letter requesting further info when it will be resolved, and what the delay is. I’d be asking for a rent reduction. But no, you’re not going to need to walk over the road everytime someone does a poo!

Yes we have one as ex DP is Asian and his family use it. His brother has a pipe attached to the toilet which I assume is for washing your bum! But you wouldn’t want to spend money getting that installed but the little pot is a good idea.

@Viviennemary I have been to Kos and flushed my toilet roll down the toilet.

Most places in Greece have updated their plumbing these days.