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Toilet paper flushing


ccw

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16 hours ago, WideSky said:

CCW you also need to take into account whether the house has it's own septic tank or is part of the municipal system. How high is the water table where the house is? No such thing as septic fields or two part tanks. So it's just easier DON"T FLUSH PAPER.

Actually there are septic fields here, depending on where you live. We are in a newer home in a gated community and saw the septic arrangement the day they were building it.  We can flush toilet paper but not Kleenex.  Over 10 years with no problems so far! :rolleyes:

 

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We will be looking for a long term rental late next year. I do not want my first question about the rentals I will looking at to be "Can I flush toilet paper here"? We will probably use a real estate company for our first rental to feel a bit more comfortable. I understand that there is no law for the agent/landlord to disclose any problems. I would hope that they would tell the truth so a plumber doesn't have to come and visit.

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Our first house, in Ajijic, was new in 2001. We flushed TP until we sold it in 2004, and the new owners continued to do so.

Our second house, in Chapala, was built in “who knows when“, starting with a small adobe house, and it grew, then bought the lot next door and grew something fierce in about 1964. We remodeled it, but did not change any drainage pipes to the municipal system, and we flushed TP happily for the next ten years, when we moved back NoB for medical reasons.

Just be sure that the TP is easily biodegradable.

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1 hour ago, ccw said:

"Can I flush toilet paper here"?

Easy. Just look in the bathroom(s) and see if they have a basket beside the toilet. It will most likely have a plastic bag insert.

Go to Dental Express and see their restroom. They had to put up a sign asking people to flush their TP and not to put it in the basket under the washbowl. 

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Flush all the TP you want, and ignore the lakeside communities as a whole, who suffer in response and may never know why.Take a look around at the leaking and flooding and ruined wet roads when it is not raining, and understand that this kind of attitude is responsible for an already-overloaded infrastructure failing even faster. And then just continue to deny it. I love the way people make up their own facts.

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2 hours ago, ComputerGuy said:

Flush all the TP you want, and ignore the lakeside communities as a whole, who suffer in response and may never know why.Take a look around at the leaking and flooding and ruined wet roads when it is not raining, and understand that this kind of attitude is responsible for an already-overloaded infrastructure failing even faster. And then just continue to deny it. I love the way people make up their own facts.

Are you saying that we should all keep a wast basket next our toilet to keep all our smelly shi--y toilet paper in even if we live in a nice home that has no plumbing problems? I can't believe you are actually saying that.   

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I remember several years ago going into a Costco bathroom to go #2 and on the wall was a note saying in Spanish to please place your TP in the toilet and flush it.  There are many places in the greater Chapala area where one should not flush TP down the drain. I just know that the sewer pipes in the street and the pipes in my home are large enough to handle the type of TP that decomposes or whatever.

I even saw when Simapa workers extended my water line and sewer line up a new street extension to my new house.

My architect checked with the sewer (Simapa) Utility and told me that were I lived that I could flush TP down the drain. They added that I should use common sense and not flush too much down at any one time. I just know  that the people on my street are allowed to flush a reasonable amount (not to much) TP down the drain and that there would be no problem at the other end, wherever that is.

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I have one thing to say. PLEASE NEVER EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER,  EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, use a public restroom. NEVER. I am sick to death of dim witted bimbos who must put their paper in the toilet not the basket and clog up public toilets so the rest of us can't use them.

If you go to a friend's house, if there is a basket next to the toilet - use it. Or don't use the bathroom. You are just not important enough to clog up someone else's plumbing.

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5 hours ago, gringohombre said:

Are you saying that we should all keep a wast basket next our toilet to keep all our smelly shi--y toilet paper in even if we live in a nice home that has no plumbing problems? I can't believe you are actually saying that.   

You haven't had a problem... yet. You will.

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6 hours ago, gringohombre said:

I can't believe this...are we living in the 21st. century or the middle ages? This is so crazy! 

It's the same everywhere I've ever been in Mexico, and I've been to 28 states plus the Distrito Federal, where I live.  Private homes, restaurants, you name it: it's not just Lakeside, and it's not just rural areas. SOME of the really fancy hotels in Mexico City let you flush the paper, but even most hotels have a sign on the wall of the bathroom in your room: Please put toilet paper and used feminine hygiene products in the basket, not in the toilet.  

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19 minutes ago, More Liana said:

It's the same everywhere I've ever been in Mexico, and I've been to 28 states plus the Distrito Federal, where I live.  Private homes, restaurants, you name it: it's not just Lakeside, and it's not just rural areas. SOME of the really fancy hotels in Mexico City let you flush the paper, but even most hotels have a sign on the wall of the bathroom in your room: Please put toilet paper and used feminine hygiene products in the basket, not in the toilet.  

First off, when it comes to waste water treatment, this country is easily 50 years behind the U.S. and it is very likely that many sewage systems here cannot handle paper well because of pipe material, rough joints and generally bad installation.

Secondly, the problem is most often one of very poor plumbing, inadequate pipe size and sloping.  Short of major reconstruction not much can be done about the latter in many homes.  And no, 4 inch pipes are not required, three is often better as this size is plenty big enough but helps to increase velocity and flushing of the line.

We are fortunate to have purchased a home built by Americans who made sure the plumbing was done reasonably well.  I say "reasonably" because they fell down on venting properly but the pipes are the right size and slope.  If you build here you need to pay very close attention to the design and installation of anything plumbing, electrical or for internet/communication, otherwise it is likely it will not be done right and you will have problems.  Don't let them use thin wall for drain lines as these tend to collapse over time.  Specify Schedule 40 and be very sure it is used.

The toilet paper "thing" is not one of my favorite things about living and traveling in Mexico but More Liana is quite right, it is more the usual than not even in some pretty fancy hotels.  It's just one of those things you learn to put up with. 

 

 

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9 hours ago, gringohombre said:

I can't believe this...are we living in the 21st. century or the middle ages? This is so crazy! 

Perhaps, but I think you can see from others' posts the reasons why. And in the end, having lived in a number of places here, and socialized with a lot of long-time Mexican residents, I feel why not go with the flow (pun intended) and avoid any potential problems. Forewarned is forearmed, that's all.

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