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The sewers in Seoul are definitely not hundreds of years old; most of them were built after the Korean War. The subway authority in Seoul had some research don
by kijin 7y ago
The sewers in Seoul are definitely not hundreds of years old; most of them were built after the Korean War.
The subway authority in Seoul had some research done when they were preparing to get rid of wastebaskets in their public bathrooms a couple of years ago. They found that the plumbing infrastructure is more than capable of handling normal amounts of toilet paper, even in older stations. But clogs happen when the paper gets tangled up with wet wipes, feminine hygiene products, and miscellaneous items such as pens and phones (yes, phones!) that are either accidentally or deliberately dropped in the toilet.
When the subway authority and other large institutions did eventually get rid of the wastebaskets (they're smelly nuisances at best and biohazard at worst), the change was accompanied by a massive awareness campaign to discourage throwing foreign objects in the toilet. Separate receptacles for feminine hygiene products were added to women's bathrooms. There were some hiccups at first, but I think the change has been well received for the most part.
tl;dr: Paper is not the problem. A widespread habit of throwing foreign objects in the toilet is.
- throw0101a 7y ago> feminine hygiene products Many restaurants in North American cities have reminders that these should be thrown in the trash. Then there's a co-worker's situation in his townhouse / condo development: some people, who are probably new immigrants don't know the rules of the road, have to be informed not to flush chicken carcasses down the toilet. Just put it in the green bin and it will be picked up with-in the week: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_bin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_bin
- kijin 7y agoTo be honest, leaving a bin containing chicken carcasses outdoors for up to one week in 90'F heat isn't exactly a sensible thing to do, either. Those immigrants might have come from a place where the toilet doubles as the compost. So many things that we take for granted aren't obvious at all to people from other parts of the world.
- throw0101a 7y ago90F = 32C. I'm in Toronto, and we get that kind of heat somewhat regularly, and the green bins haven't been a problem. It's the reason why they're picked up every week (garbage and recycling alternates).