I have always wondered why it’s so bad to flush a tampon. I know tampons blow up a bit when wet, but even when fully saturated, they don’t get as big as a large turd. And they are generally made of cotton, not plastic, so surely they will break down well enough? Thanks.
EDIT TO ADD: I am not saying I flush tampons! I don’t. I just wanted to make sure there’s a good reason for it.
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Well, your turd can be send to by sweage worker that deliver it to sweage treatment plant through a underground’s pipeline , which is far away for obvious reasons, cotton on other hand absorb water, which what most Tampon made of, cotton, and since it absorb water, the people who work underground have to removed it to prevent clogging.
I hope I answer your question.
First, “tampon” means “something that you use to block something”. It’s literally a plug and will serve that function well in the sewer.
Basically paper and your excrement turn into mush pretty much immediately. It all mixes up and becomes brown/black water that easily slides down the sewers. Food from garbage disposal is also ok since it is both compostable and very tiny.
You take a big ole thing of cotton and guess what happens? Stuff sticks to it. Ever hear of a fatberg? They are real and cause big problems in cities.
TLDR; your bath/shower water, very light paper, poo, pee, water, and ground up food are ok. Anything else is bad.
Put a tampon in a cup of water and come back and hour later stir it up a bit. Does it fall apart ?
Now do the same for toilet paper. When you stir it what happens ?
The only things that should go down the toilet are human waste and things that fall apart in water after a bit of time. This is why paper towels and any sort of wet wipe should not.
The literal purpose of a tampon is to clog pipes. In a person’s body, tampons soak up and clog blood flow. In pipes, they’re going to do the same thing if they get caught somewhere.
Think about the difference between when you get toilet paper wet and when you get a tampon wet. Tampons aren’t just dissolving inside people’s bodies. There are different levels of biodegradability.
So the reason is, with your sewage system. Eventually it reaches what’s called a rising main, or lift. In this lift is typically an internal pump with a motor, things like none biodegradable tissues and stuff get caught in the blades and turns into rope. With enough of the stuff it completely stops the pumps and ends up backing up the system
A turd isn’t a solid log. More like wet dirt that is easily liquefiable if you add enough water. Means it dissolves in water.
A tampon does not dissolve in water. It will stay in its shape for a long long time and will likely get stuck somewhere in the pipes.
Same with toilet paper and wet wipes. Toilet paper quickly dissolves in water. wet wipes don’t.
The inside of pipes is not perfectly smooth, there are often small sharp bits left inside from when the pipe is cut, and anything fibrous, like cotton, can get caught on it and start a clog. Anything with more structural integrity than toilet paper should be avoided.
Cotton in particular takes years or decades to break down, which is why it’s useful for clothing.
Just because they are “biodegradable” doesn’t mean they will degrade quickly. The average turd can (and will) break apart, beginning almost immediately, while the material in a tampon will stay together for quite some time. And during that time, the tampon (particularly when combined with other such materials, in a sewage system) can cause blockages.
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