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Wet, wild and fatty as the nation’s drains feel coronavirus strain

The run on toilet paper during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic was all a bit of a joke at first … then you ran out.

Then you started using anything cloth-like you could lay your hands on.

Anything, so you didn’t have to get your hands … well, on.

But now welcome to stage three of the toilet apocalypse.

The blocked drains.

Turns out, with toilet paper in limited supply, we’ve all turned to nappy wipes, kitchen paper towels and so called ‘flushable’ wet cloths – and your old pipes cannot cope.

Online tradie website ServiceSeeking.com.au claims it has seen a spike in plumbing jobs around the nation.

It says the number of jobs specifically requesting a plumber to unblock  a toilet or drain, have surged 68 per cent from February to March.

Alex Taskun from GT Plumbing says wet wipes are the main problem because they cause ‘fatbergs’ in waterways and homes.

“Wet wipes don’t biodegrade very quickly, and they eventually get stuck somewhere, causing a massive clog that will cost you money to unblock,” Mr Taskun said.

“I am doing a lot of this type of work at the moment.”

So Australia, you’ve been warned.

You may keep your hands clean with wet wipes before they go down the drain, but you might be sticking your arm down there before too long if you get a blockage.

Isn’t lockdown fun?

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