Recently I got a call from a customer that their toilet was flushing slow. They thought that may have a toy in the toilet from one of their grandchildren. I sent an optical down the the toilet and saw this white stuff blocking the way. I ran a snake through the toilet but it had little effect. I then decided to pull the toilet. The toilet was plugged full of this white jello like substance. It was caked inside the toilet drain. I couldn’t get the stuff out, so we replaced the toilet. I broke the toilet open and this is what I found, see photos. What is this stuff and how do you get rid of it.
Thanks,
Dave
Replies
Looks like squid.
Fry it up lightly and serve with a marinara sauce.
LOL.....sorry.....no idea....just couldn't resist.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Looks like,
Famunga Cheese!
By the way,
For your 1st post here, you have done well, Real well!
Think I will skip breakfest in the am!
Welcome!
Think I will skip breakfest in the am!
Before opening this thread, I was just about to sign off and head to bed.
After opening, the first thought to run through my mind was, thank gawd I opened it now rather than in the morning with my 1st cup of joe! UGH.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
Think the OP will fit right in with the rest of us!
Hey.....if we get this thread bumped to the Tavern, he'll have no choice! LOL
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
Does the manufacturer claim to have sound proofing, if so it looks like it slipped down.
Just guessing here; could this be fat that someone tried to pour into the sewer system?
A can of foam spray under water from the kids playing?
The Blob (?) making it's way into the house from a netherworld?
Snake or rat repellant gone awry?
Is there any evidence of it further down the drains?
...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...
Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home.
...aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
It went down the drain about two inches.
Maybe you could help solve this mystery.
Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
OK it's been years since I've done service plumbing, but did run into some similar stuff on a call back at a 42 story condo that I did about a year ago, but it was in the tub drain not the toilet.
Keyword in your post that caught my eye "grandchildren" the absorbant part of diapers ( baby & adult) will collect every chemical that passes by it.
That's my guess anyway.
"If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it?" Benjamin Franklin
Ditto on the diaper idea. I believe they're filled with polyacrylamide gel, which absorbs a huge amount of water for its weight. It probably went in the bowl mostly dry, absorbed a bunch of water on the way down, and stuck for good.It's harmless, and will break down in sunlight (UV).
I was picturing the kids playing with some sort of spermacide gel;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I thought it was Gunner and RICE.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"
Looks like cholesterol (if its soft). If it is hard, it could be calcium. It is sometimes a problem at schools and other older buildings that have large numbers of people visiting older bathrooms. Is it an old toilet? Bars sometimes have a problem with urinals and calcium build-up. The calcium can get hard as rock and has to be smashed with a mallet.Jason
View Image View Image
Wooo-Hooo! At long last!Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"
I was picturing the kids playing with some sort of spermacide gel ;)
If that's what it is, they must have bought the 'family' size...
Sam's Club!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
That substance my friends is tripe the stomach lining of pigs or cows. a delicacy also purchased to feed birds. probably was bought and forgotten than dumped down the drain by a grossed out teenager.
Tripe actually came to mind, but then I thought ---- how'd it get into the toilet.
But then all I have to do is remember the early 90's when my shop had the rotating service crew------ some of things we pulled out of toilet at the unemployment/dshs office would just blow your sox off.
"If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it?" Benjamin Franklin
Diapers was my first thought also.....looks like it mighta been there for a while.
Wondering how long they waited before calling a plumber.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
>>What is this stuff.....<< No clue.
>>...and how do you get rid of it.<< You have done an admirable job - jack toilet up and put a new one under it!
Other possible alternative removal techniques - blasting, liposuction machine.......
Welcome to Breaktime where not all the responses you get will be serious, correct or even viable.
Jim
Never underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.
Wow that's foul I can't imagine that that toilet worked at all in that condition. It looks to me like a clogged artery. Did the HO's for some strange reason like to dump their cooking fat into the toilet? How would diapers get into the toilet?
Gah, guess I'm going to skip the super burrito I was going to have for lunch...
Daniel Neumansky
Restoring our second Victorian home this time in Alamdea CA. Check out the blog http://www.chezneumansky.blogspot.com/
Oakland CA
Crazy Homeowner-Victorian Restorer
How would diapers get into the toilet?
You take the soiled one off the kiddo, put on a fresh one, and flush the old one down the crapper cuz you don't want the smell in the house."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Looks like cooking grease to me...I hope my arteries don't look like that...Yech!
Actually it was common to dunk a cloth diaper to lose the load before laundering and re-use, me thinks some one from that era tried it with a new super soaker upper disposable and the absorbant stuff got away from them.
I doubt anyone would really try to flush a whole diaper, but then again, there are some really stoopid people out there.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"
When disposables first came out in the early 60s, it was common to flush them with some even having instructions on the bag about how to flush, but they were not the super absorbent as now.
Also in the 60's, before AMTRAK and epa, it was easy to 'flush' disposables on the train - you could see the ties go by when flushed...
Then, when AMTRAK and EPA started with holding tanks, DW forgot one time and really plugged up the cripper in the roomette when one got away from her with one toddler and baby in hand.
Ach well <G>
The pix actually looked more like a fungus all by itself, would be interesting if the original poster could describe the texture and tensile strength, if any, or if fibers were still visible/existent..
Since we are on septic, the grandkids diapers went into a compost pile.
The 12 YO grand-daughter went thru her pile this summer amazed at the 'great dirt' and how well preserved the plastic and absorbent material were that were not exposed to UV.
I know, we iz wierd, 'saving' used diapers for 12 years........<G>
You could probably narrow the choices down by tasting it !!!!!!!!
Mike
Get the mapp gas torch, lite it.
Might be the answer to our energy problem.
Well, I'll tell you this, I've seen ALOT of stuff in toilets before but this one wins in my book. The stuff is like jello, no smell, like you would think, I would say it has no tensile strength at all. Here's some more about the house. It's only eight years old, upper age couple have been the only owners. Their grandchildren are not in diapers. This toilet was in the master bathroom. This toilet still flushed and with toilet paper, the bowl would fill up with water then drain slow, but worked. The only thing the owners said they dumped in the toilet except the usual stuff was Liquid Draino. Hope this helps some.
They sure it was liquid drano and not "bottle o' squid"?
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
The answer is, well... depends. I mean Depends diapers? (couldn't resist)
Maybe it's denture adhesive. They dump out the glass each morning into the commode.
I also wondered if it is some kind of fungal/bacteria buildup.
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
some kind of fungal/bacteria buildup
my thoughts also, esp. since it has no tensile strength as RW reported.
There is fungus looks like that growing out of old cottonwood logs in the back, will take a pix to compare tomorrow.
Something weird in their diet or medications?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Yeah. Colon-B-Gone.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"
Some people who need 'depends' will do some pretty unusual stuff to keep people from knowing it.And/or will deny simple things, for the same reason.My guess is that one of the "upper age couple" needs or needed depends for a while.They cleaned the things of waste, and the absorbent, into the toilet, then disposed of the remainder in some other way. What's left of the things after getting rid of the waste and the absorbent is a lot easier to hide in the trash, or burn, etc... (Do they have an incinerator or wood stove ?)And they do not want to admit they dumped the absorbent stuff down the toilet because then you'd know they need or needed depends...
Get your head out of the box.
Maybe someone is dumping out the absorbent materials of their ostomy pouch.
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
I didn't know those had absorbent material.
Get your head out of the box.
Some have absorbant wafers that turn into gel-like material.
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
"I doubt anyone would really try to flush a whole diaper,"Put your doubter back on the shelf. There are plenty of people who need to be TOLD that they sould not try flushing them, and have it EXPLAINED why. Evedn after a big plumbing bill, some will continue unabashedly on with their bad habits.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
If I spent to much time on the toilet when I was a kid, my dad would knock on the door and ask " What are you doing in there, sh@#$'en your brains out?" Now I see he was just concerned about the plumbing! :)
I think the diaper theory is the best one. Why would kid's put spermicidal gel in the toilet? Then again, why would they use my new 6' level, for a balance beam...:(
northeastvt
Did it ever work right? Is it an often used toilet the use every day or one off in a spare room?
One would presume that a master bedroom gets used pretty regularly;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I think this thread wil go down in memory with the purple water in swimming pool thread, LOL
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks, missed that in the OP.
It looks like a MRSA colony.
My first reaction? Did it attempt to communicate? Cause it looks like it been growing in there! Then we get the diapers/depends thing. Then the tripe.
Frankly I don't want to know...well, yeah, I do but.....
This one is going to go on for a while.
ciao
Broke a chunk off a big fungus growing out of a log out back, look similar??
Probaly get soft if in water all the time?
View Image
Edited 11/9/2007 12:44 pm ET by junkhound
So here is the question that rises in my mind - If the "thing" in the waste here is the same or a similar fungus as what you have shown, something that managed to start growing there by clinging to a small rough spot in the trap, how did it get there?And if via the human colon, what is still growing there?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
If the "thing" in the waste here is the same or a similar fungus as what you have shown, something that managed to start growing there by clinging to a small rough spot in the trap, how did it get there?
Maybe they're on a septic tank. Cleaner dude comes by to pump it out, he has the cover off. Spores get in and work their way north. Maybe at some point in the past, someone used a steel snake on the toilet and scratched the porcelain. Spore takes hold of the scratched spots and starts growing. Maybe it is one of the early low-flow toilets that didn't flush well to begin with, so not a whole lotta pressure from the passing water.
Since people clean the bowl, not the drain, it can grow for quite a while before anyone notices.
I've never seen anything like that before, but I've seen some strange growths in waste pipes. blech.
jt8
"The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." --Dave Barry
Their on city water and sewer.
A few questions--
Do you notice it moving? I mean, on it's own.
Are you in New Mexico? Roswell perhaps?
The toilet has brains?
A few questions--
Do you notice it moving? I mean, on it's own. No movement
Are you in New Mexico? Roswell perhaps? St. Louis, MO
The toilet has brains?
I have no clue but "Alien" comes to mind. how does it respond to a blow torch?
It's the remains of a Panasonic 12 volt drill that somebody thought well enough to put in it's rightful place.
LOL I love that drill.
.
"I tell you, We are here on earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different." Kurt Vonnegut jr.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5MG1ZfFiZ8&mode=related&search= Mercy now
Bammer spawn.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"
I dropped something like that in a toilet in Wyoming years ago. Surprised they didn't try to come after me for child support. It took an hour or so to pass it. Tell whoever did that to get a lot of fiber into their body. They need it.
. "Chuck. Chuck. It's Marvin - your cousin, Marvin BERRY. You know that new sound you're looking for? Well, listen to this."
Edited 11/10/2007 8:31 pm ET by Gunner
Man, that comment was enough to shut any thread down.
Snicker, Snicker.
. "Chuck. Chuck. It's Marvin - your cousin, Marvin BERRY. You know that new sound you're looking for? Well, listen to this."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=229QkXMvdc0
I really thought there would be somebody on this board that would be able to identify that ^%$#.
Anybody on this board have a DNA sequencer the OP could send a sample to for identification ? <G>
< Anybody on this board have a DNA sequencer? >
LOL!
Give me a few days, 12-14 quarts of antifreeze, and some 30-weight ball bearings.
Forrest
< Anybody on this board have a DNA sequencer? >
Chances are, somebody here has one sittin' in there shed somewhere. :)
northeastvt
Prestone or Quaker State?
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
Metamucil?
House only 8 years old?
Wondering if the original plumber was unhappy with GC or owners, and put something in there to take effect long after he was gone.
Not wanting to assume anything bad about the plumber, but I've heard stories of contractor sabotage before.
Or, could it be part of the mold when the toilet was cast?
Anyway, I hope I never see anything like it in person.Pete Duffy, Handyman
somebody didn't finish removing the lost foam core...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!