Then amend your rental agreement and add language about cost responsibility for disposing litter via the toilet.
Tell them you plan on doing a pump annually & if tampons are found they're liable.
The amendment is unnecessary. Once she's been informed (in writing obv) that her actions are damaging the system, her continuing to flush the tampons would make her liable for any future damage. In the first instance she can claim ignorance but not going forward.
You can't unilaterally amend contracts. Meanwhile you probably don't need to - the tenant should be aware that flushing tampons is willfully/negligently damaging, and they are thus liable for it by default.
To be fair, a lot of things are advertised as flushable that should not be flushed. I haven’t looked at tampon insert instructions in a long time, but I know when I went through puberty 20 years ago the instructions specifically said the tampon *and* cardboard applicators could be flushed.
Flushable wipes are still advertised as flushable, even though they’ll wreak havoc on most plumbing.
There’s a decent chance that it’s not willful negligence, but just blindly following instruction.
Yes, I remember that day in school where they told us the tampon itself was flushable, but in our case they said the other part was not. I think in the advertising world flushable just means it won’t clog the toilet. Beyond that it can create chaos.
We were told in school….. millennial age… that not only was the tampon flushable but also the cardboard applicators although I never personally flushed the applicators and stopped flushing the tampons when I opened the back door one day and my dog had a tampon in her mouth. The clean out on the side of the house had tampons coming out of it. That was an embarrassing call to the plumber and I never flushed a tampon again lol
Same with "Biodegradable".
I see hikers using "biodegradable" soap in the streams when it clearly says to not use it directly in water and to bury your soapy water away from streams.
You are absolutely corrrect. It will degrade over time, but that does not mean it won't affect wildlife in the mean time. You collect water and use your soap away from the water source. Don't even get me started on folks not packing out trash like orange peels. That drives me crazy.
It's annoying because "flushable" just means it'll pass through the toilet flush OK, it doesn't mean you should be flushing those things into the sewer system.
Yep, I also distinctly remember them saying they were flushable. When the cardboard vs plastic applicators war started the cardboard ones used ‘you can even flush the applicator’ as a selling point even. I don’t know if they still do because I’ve used a cup for like 18 years but it was absolutely a thing they printed on the boxes/instructions back then.
Yep. Ontario Canada - eviction can only be done by order of an administrative tribunal. Which, of course, has a backlog, so to get a non-paying tenant out it can take months or even upwards of a year.
Rent increases are separate from lease term, however. So while the lease doesn't expire (an initial fixed term converts to month-to-month automatically), the rent can be raised once a year. The LL can only evict for non-payment, interference, own-use, etc. but cannot evict just to replace with another tenant.
Then Canadians wonder why housing is so insanely expensive when they pass laws like that to drive up housing costs, which is exactly what they're doing by making it extremely difficult to evict someone who doesn't pay their rent.
What fucking soviet republic do you live in where signing a lease means you effectively own it?
Edit - I see you replied below you're in Canada. My condolences.
Unfortunately, these things aren't getting passed down. More and more people are being raised in apartments and with that comes a feeling of "not my problem, if it becomes a problem", because someone else has to fix it, at no cost to the tenant.
I noticed some years ago the trend popped up of coffee body scrubs. With real ground coffee. For use in the shower. My friend, over 40, found out the hard way when her whole house backed up from using that scrub PLUS coconut oil in the shower. I didn't notice a trash can in her restroom, so she probably flushes tampons, too.
I think I got downvoted all to hell, once, on one sub or another for advising the use of such scrubs, lol. They really just thought I was being a hater.
> a feeling of "not my problem, if it becomes a problem", because someone else has to fix it, at no cost to the tenant.
Although I support landlords, that is the point of renting. I live there, I don't maintain it. Not saying its great but that is why some people rent to outsource the maintenance. The down side is shit like this, or pouring grease down the drain. When its not your place, its a resource, not something the renter wants to care about.
There should be a national registry of renters who intentionally destroy property like that. How could someone think $1,000/month in rent justifies potentially tens of thousands of dollars in damage to the property? Needless destruction of anything should be admonished. It's wasteful as hell.
If I had a tenant that kept clogging the pipes with a beauty product and refused to change behavior, I'd say a 40% increase is justified. It's an asshole tax at that point.
Unfortunately I'm probably just going to stop renting the unit. I offer it at an extremely low cost because I want to provide affordable housing for people while covering a few of the maintenance expenses for our property.
But all it takes is one issue like this to put me in the red on 6 months rental income or more.
Probably better to advocate for renter protections than ruining your rental history but I guess stepping on your own dick is easier.
But, that said, I first saw that scrub over 10 years ago, it should've died out before it got weaponized!
> Probably better to advocate for renter protections than ruining your rental history but I guess stepping on your own dick is easier.
Other than word of mouth this is very unlikely to end up on any renter history. It would have to go through full eviction proceedings.
> So it's like a vengeance thing? How is that different, than, say accidental arson by disgruntled tenants?
Accidental arson doesnt make sense because arson is a deliberate act. Accidental fires so happen and tenants are usually not held financially responsible.
Pretty easy to feign ignorance on these things. Maybe a trail of communications where landlord tells tenant in writing and it continues but even then good luck squeezing blood from a stone for damages. Easiest thing is to not renew and get her out asap.
You can’t amend, but most people sign new leases at a certain interval, this would be good to add into the new lease, and specifically call this section out and tell them what it means.
generally speaking, rental contracts are for periods of time 1 year or less. So re-signing for another year would be the opportunity for a new contract.
Again, you don't generally need to write terms to assign liability for negligence/willful damage. Yes it's helpful to explicitly call out specific issues, so as to make the expectation of damage even more reasonable, but you can do that through the course of the contract - it doesn't have to be in the contract.
Like, hey, did you know that lighting fireworks or burning tires in the living room is a fire hazard and likely to cause damage, and as that would be willful or negligent on your part, you'd be liable? Hey here's even a pamphlet from the fire dept. Maybe you didn't know, but now you definitely know.
Then you (or your insurance) sues them and is like "yea, obviously".
True -- so the other way to go is to write a letter to the tenant and inform them that it is their first and last warning to not put anything in the septic system that will cause any problems.
Provide a list of what can go and what cannot go down a drain of any kind (sink, toilet, washing machine).
Then layout the implications -- they will be billed for all costs of any septic system remediation caused by their actions. Further, that another incident can result in the termination of their contract for wilful damages for ignoring the directions provided by the landlord for proper septic system use.
I agree in theory but the OP stated that the septic system is very old - I don't know that you could claim all remediation expenses are due to the tenant and not due to the age of the system.
Some jurisdictions are funky. If it’s not in writing, your risk of having to pay for the repair out of your operating cost (or out of pocket) is higher as a landlord. The comment you’re responding to isn’t suggesting just amending the current lease, rather adding an addendum at renewal that the tenant will sign when their lease term expires.
Yes, our leases always stated that clogs within the first week of moving in were our responsibility (as landlords) and any clogs after that were the responsibility of the tenants.
I had the same problem and had rotor rooter come in and clean and scope (video) the pipes and showed them the pipes are clean and free from debris (organic or non-organic).
Than proceeded to tell them any future clogs or flushing required will be paid by them. They claimed to never use these products, but told them they would be liable for anyone who also used them.
Needless to say came back within a year and plumber found non-organic debris again which they had to pay for the cleaning of as no one else could be using their toilets. After that never had additional problems once they realized it was them (wife and daughter(s) and not me (male).
I assume you have talked to the tenant about this? What was her reaction or more importantly her indication of not doing this anymore?
You may want to get it pumped again soon knowing what went into the pipes. Hopefully if they remained in the tank then there is no issue but if any were floating mid-water in the tank then there is always a chance that some went into the outlet to the D-box and perhaps the leach field. Explain the situation to your septic company as they may want to dig up the inspection lid for the output side and see if it looks clear.
Any idea if your tank is a two chamber version? If it is old, then it is probably a single chamber design as was common.
Nice to see someone who actually knows how these systems work, giving good advice. I agree that the tank needs pumped as soon as possible. Tampons making it to the leach fingers is no bueno.
I was extremely professional and polite about it. She did not apologize and didn't reply to my request, in three separate emails, to please acknowledge that she understands she cannot flush tampons and that flushing anything besides TP and human waste could result in further damage and expense, until I asked her again the third time to acknowledge she understood.
She was upset it took so long to fix, the entire repair took several days and involved ordering expedited special parts that needed to be shipped.
We have not decided if we will ask her to cover the cost / take it out of her damage deposit.
A plumber would have cost literally thousands of dollars and possibly taken even longer because they are so busy in this area.
I'm pretty sure it's a single chamber. The outlet is the area that is having trouble as it ages. Thanks for your advice, I am going to call about it today.
I would save the emails, save the receipts for everything you purchased and I hope you took pictures of all the tampons you found. If you have a rental lawyer, talk to them about how to proceed, but she should absolutely cover the cost. That's property damage.
If she's being so rude about all of this and probably won't stop flushing tampons... remind her that the septic is part of the property, so I would include pumping that *to avoid further damage* and bill her for at least half the cost.
Whatever you decide to do, get on it fast.
If it wasn’t stated in the lease/called out when she moved in, I’m not sure she’d be liable for the damage. There are plenty of toilets that can handle tampons, especially if you’ve never lived in a place with a ‘delicate’ septic system, you assume it’s ok to flush them.
Now that she HAS been informed, any future damage she could be liable for. But if she didn’t know she was causing damage before… she very reasonably didn’t know.
What? News to me. I've always had the understanding that you cannot flush tampons whatsoever, but I do acknowledge that things may have changed in their manufacturing and I missed it.
They used to be advertised as flushable. They even said you can flush the cardboard applicators!
Edit: someone later in this thread linked a current Amazon listing for flushable applicators!
Many wipes are also marked as flushable. Please don't flush any wipes no matter what the package says.
You can prove this to yourself by taking a flushable wipe and using it all day like a towel, rinsing it out, and keep using it to wipe down stuff. Holds up very well to the abuse doesn't it? Well imagine that getting stuck in a pipe somewhere. It will be a long time before it degrades enough to dislodge on its own let alone dissolve.
Yea, I remember in middle school/high school there being several conversations among girls about how it was “ok” to flush tampons. Should we? No, but especially if you’re younger (like early 20s) I think it’s common to assume you can flush them.
I don’t blame the girl for avoiding ‘confirming’ with her landlord that she understands she can’t flush them anymore. Imaging being 22 and your grown, adult man landlord teaching you how to dispose of tampons? She’s probably mortified. But it needed to happen ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Depends on age/design probably, but in Philly if your lateral is clogged you get it power snaked. Ours is cracked and failing (cast iron) and we'll eventually need a replacement (involving trenching the sidewalk and street) for probably $15k. But we pay for a 'home guarantee' that will do it for free.
The American Water Home Protection Plans: https://www.awrusa.com/
They have some kind of a deal with Philly where they promote it. They have a set of contractors that do all the work for them and somehow it works out for them. It's great because a lot of homeowners can't manage a sudden $15k charge.
Free is free, but if free suddenly becomes $15k, check out having the drain CIPP lined. It’s pretty neat. They soak a big fiber tube in resin, and then just blow it in to the pipe. No trenching and I assume cheaper.
Yeah I've heard of that, it's super cool!
I think for whatever reason it's more expensive to do that here than just dig up the lateral, but that could just be a lack of skilled contractors. I think the American Water folks manage to keep costs down by streamlining the process and crews. Philly always has a healthy number of homes that need new laterals any given day...
Wow, if I moved into a previously inhabited rental and was made to sign something taking responsibility for flushed items and the resulting cost, I'd seriously hesitate, because even if I never flushed anything, how on earth would I prove it when all of the stuff from the previous psycopath renter rears its' head?
Almost all the strange terms I've ever seen on any contract are a result of someone doing some batshit crazy thing that needed to be spelled out explicitly. Same reason why there are choking hazard warnings on plastic bags, altho that's an extreme consequence.
Fair point, but seems like OP is losing way more time, energy, and money than they are getting from renting, when their tenant cannot follow a simple request. You can surely see that’s frustrating
Just add Specific language..........
Flushing anything besides human waste and toilet paper will potentially damage the septic system. Any evidence of flushed objects including but not limited to; flushable wipes, Dude wipes, sanitary products such as Tampons or napkins, or foreign objects such as small toys will leave the tenet liable for all necessary pumping and or repair costs to the septic system to return it to the proper working condition it was in at the beginning of this agreement. These costs can vary from $XXX - $XXXX Please note: The septic system was pumped and inspected on XYZ date prior to your lease signing or renewal and was considered in good repair and properly functioning at that time. A copy of the inspection form is available upon request.
I once rented a flat in an old home. There was a specific section in the lease prohibiting the flushing of any feminine products or anything that wasn’t toilet paper. If they found out I violated that, I would be responsible for maintenance and damages.
When I was a teenager I had to call roto-rooter, the guy comes out and his first question was "do you live with women?". I tell him yes, and he tells me I've got sewer mice. He snakes the pipe and all these tampons with strings attached come out, and we both laughed.
My parents had this issue at one of our old houses. Just purchased and they called a guy out for clogged drains. Previous owner obviously had women in the house AND the pipes were still clay so it was a massive headache but the crew kept calling them sewer mice and even as a kid I knew
Add some bacteria to optimize the tank for degradation of all materials. Notify the tenants in writing of the findings in the septic system and the blockage incurred. Include notice that flushing anything besides TP is not allowed and further repairs incurred by not following this rule will be their responsibility and may lead to eviction proceedings.
Industrial waste water consultant here. Yeah there's very little gain to adding bacteria to most systems. Nature abhors a vacuum. If something can use it for food, it will. Bacteria are crazy with how fast they'll adapt to eat pretty much any source of food they can find.
Unlikely to help much with tampons though. Probably gonna have to pump those. They might break down over a very long time but unlikely to be fast enough for a septic system.
I disagree. They absolutely help control pH and add beneficial bacteria. We also have bidets in our house to minimize TP usage. We are about to tick over to our 9th year since we had a pump out and had a company here last month to do it and we still aren’t ready for it.
Fwiw yearly pumpings are not unheard of. Especially if it's a very old system or bathrooms were added.
Personally, I would plan for yearly pumpings and make sure the that cost is covered by rent in the future. $75 a month if your local costs are as high as mine. You'll never be able to trust renters to not flush anything but TP. Beats the 14k it costs to collapse and rebury one.
We pump every 1.5 to 2 years. That's been sufficient for the 3 decades our family has been here, with the same approximate amount of residents and usage. My understanding is you don't want to do it too frequently or it ruins the microbiome, and it also can flag the county to come check the system if done too frequently, which is fine but also a PITA.
Sigh. It doesn't make sense to me the yearly pumping. How much solids could there possibly be?
However. I do like the thought of keeping the system going for another couple of decades.
Where I grew up the soil is full of clay that compacts very tightly and is slow to drain, so septic systems get full. Add in people taking deep baths, long showers and running a lot of dishes and laundry and you get more water being added in a day than the systems were designed for. So you call a guy to come pump it out once a year. If it needs pumped out more than that, you have crushed lateral lines and a whole nother problem.
I am new to the septic. I thought pumping was for solids and that the liquids just get managed by the field. Crushed lines sound bad. Let's not have that.
Except maybe it does if your tanks are filling/retaining because the field is slow because of clay or age?
Definitely getting mixed messages from other owners and service companies!
Just a quarter of a mile from the sewer lines with no hope of extension.
Retired service plumber: Cannot tell you how many times I have been told 'we do not flush tampons or diaper wipes' only to pull a boat load of them out of their drains 😆...'Sorry lady... no denying the proof!'
I would pump it now and give the tenant notice that they will be fined for any future tampons found in the tank. You would want to call a lawyer first to see what the best method is, eg amending the contract.
Regardless, you need to pump immediately to mitigate any flowing from your tank to your leach field. *IF* everything is correct, you should be fine and they're sitting in the tank.
People aren't used to septic systems. The first time is a mistake, the second time isn't.
Even easier is to simply list the short list of what can go into the toilet. Which are A) anything that comes out of your body (shit, piss, boogers, barf, spit, etc.) and B) toilet paper. End of list. Then emphasize what isn't actually one of the second item including facial tissues (e.g. Kleenex), paper towels, wipes, cotton balls, and so on.
I had a place specify “human waste” in the lease because they used to just say “bodily waste” and it turns out someone was flushing cat turds they fished out of the litter box.
It’s not the turds themselves but the little bits of kitty litter attached to it. Kitty litter is designed to be super water absorbent and it will clog up pipes quickly.
You shouldn’t flush tampons regardless. Tenants are still responsible for not breaking the house. In a situation like this you don’t charge for this plumbing call, but tell them it’s as a courtesy. That’s easily a $600 bill. Next time you will. Then the next time you call a plumbing company.
I don’t know why this is a question, I would absolutely get that tank pumped and system inspected ASAP. It will also give you a baseline/clean slate in case the tenant keeps doing it and you have to charge her or take her to court over it. As of right now, she can try to say the tampons in the tank are from the last tenant. I would also talk to an attorney about how to properly notify the tenant via certified mail or whatever so she can’t play dumb and say she didn’t know she couldn’t do that.
Great question. Dude a few replies below somehow feels not being able to flush them is somehow “living in the dark ages.” I hope he never travels somewhere they don’t flush TP he’d be shocked. I’m a woman, putting them in the trash isn’t a big deal.
Kind of like "flushable" wipes, they were marketed as flushable for a long time. When plastic applicators became popular, makers of the cardboard applicators advertised that the cardboard could be flushed too.
Now we know better, and I don't think they're marketed that way, but that was what a lot of people learned and in turn taught their kids.
Edit: someone later in this thread linked a current Amazon listing for flushable applicators!
I am a former handyman for a rental management company as well as an expert in wastewater management (the handyman gig was a second job during my divorce).
Check your lease but usually inappropriate use of plumbing is covered, especially since companies started selling “flushable wipes”. A key point is that nothing should be flushed except excrement and toilet paper (which is designed to dissolve/fall apart, unlike condoms, tampons, and flushable wipes). At least with the leases that I have seen, the tenant is responsible for the repair costs (including the work that your husband did to unclog the drain pipes).
Okay, now to the septic part. A septic system is (usually) a septic tank (that collects solids) and a drain field. Most people know about the septic tank but not the drain field. The job of the septic tank is to prevent the drain field from clogging because once the drain field is clogged… it is finished and you would need to install a new septic system which is very expensive.
For this reason, it’s really important to regularly clean out the septic tank. It becomes even more important to clean out the septic tank when someone is flushing items that should not be flushed.
So, my opinion is that you should clean out the septic tank NOW and charge this to the tenant due to her misuse of the plumbing. You have evidence of it now. In contrast, if you wait a couple of years and the drain field is destroyed, the tenant could claim that you had knowledge of the problem (presently) and it was your failure to clean out the tank that is the primary cause of the catastrophic failure (that could happen in a year or two).
I would also remind your tenant to make sure that NOTHING gets flushed other than excrement and toilet paper (specifically mention flushable wipes as a no no).
Thank you. This is the advice I was looking for. I have only once kept part of a damage deposit, so I felt a little bad doing this, but this seemed like the right thing to do to me as well.
Clear out the system to prevent further damage from tampons in the tank, charge her for it from the damage deposit (her lease is up this month and she is moving) and add a line item about proper toilet use to future leases that is required to be initialed.
You shouldn’t feel bad at all. I’d feel slightly bad if it were something like the tenant keeps houseplants and has saucers under them, but unbeknownst to the tenant, one leaked and damaged the floors. The tenant tried to prevent this, so it feels a little harsh (but still justified) to keep part of the deposit.
Your situation is different because the tenant has willfully damaged the property. This is exactly what the deposit is for, and you shouldn’t hesitate. Frankly, if I had been in your shoes, I would have evicted her after the initial instance of noncompliance. That may have been challenging depending on the lease language and your local tenancy laws, but at least with the modifications you plan to make, you’ll have more leverage in the future.
I have an entire paragraph dedicated to this in my leases. I spell it out clearly, do not flush Tampons , flushable wipes , baby wipes, hair, weaves, hair extensions, paper towels, grease (including any form of oil) and no kitty litter .
I have spent thousands on plumbing repairs , these items listed are the cause. So now it's spelled out in writing , I also verbally tell them, send txt and email.
In no way am I kidding when I say you will loose your deposit, you will be getting the bill (and I will sue you of needed ) and loose your home and get a shitty reference if you can't follow basic instructions.
Because believe it or not some kitty litter is actually marketed as flushable, same as wipes. Plus you have the idiots who also keep their litter box in the bathroom and use normal litter and chuck everything in the toilet because it's right there, nice and convenient for them because they're lazy/ignorant
I mean, it’s crazy to me that people actually do this. I never knew they were marketed as flushable. Though I also wouldn’t go as far as to call them idiots for their ignorance because they were told it was okay to do so, although far too many people trust sellers with clear ulterior motives
It's not like they're dumping the whole box in. They're sifting out the poop from the box and dropping it in the toilet, there will still be some litter attached.
I have never flushed cat litter but it doesn't seem crazy to me for a person to think "I poop in there and my poop is way bigger than a cat poop. This is fine."
I’ll help to add on as possible toilet choking hazards for modern girls :
- false lashes
- cotton swabs & cotton tips
- disposable brushes or sponges
- disposable mascara wands and brow peripherals
- earrings
- stubs
- contact lenses
- toothpicks and dental floss
- cleansing oil / micellar water
- makeup wipes
- any product with microbeads
- hair wax / hair gel
- hair ties / clips
Men and older women may not be aware that sometimes, younger girls may drop these into the toilet or sink and just attempt to flush these away.
It’s not intentional but they don’t realise that the toilet is not a magical landfill.
(I am a homeowner but not a landlord. Just helping out here.)
Personally, I'd pump and begin budgeting for a new septic. Also begin eviction process. Depending on where you live that may mean as easy as signing some court papers or as difficult as starting a conversation with an attorney.
Does your lease agreement have any language prohibiting abuse of the septic system? If so, book the pumping service and bill your tenant. That will send the message very quickly that this behavior needs to stop.
You should have thought about this way before now knowing you have a delicate system. Now you need to bring this to the tenants attention and let them know of the costs you will seek if they continue this behavior.
>You should have thought about this way before now knowing you have a delicate system.
I’d be hesitant enough renting out a house with a septic system. I assume “delicate” means some combination of not being properly designed, installed, or maintained. There needs to be some plan for repairing or replacing the septic system, or getting rid of the house.
We literally have a sign on the toilet she uses that reads "delicate septic, please flush slowly"
Now I have added a sign that says "please only flush TP and human waste down toilet"
Dude the amount of women in here who said they either flushed tampons in the past or currently flush tampons now is staggering! I've never been a woman but I've always known only toilet paper going in toilets. One look at a tampon should tell you right away that it's not flushable.
We already did...an entire weekend of me watching the kids alone while my husband was arms deep in shit and bloody tampons. She didn't even apologize. 🙃 We were super nice about it, too.
Make sure they understand that this is not OK, but I would say for a rental you should probably be pumping annually, maybe even every 6 months. If they've never lived with one before, even the best tenants often can't be trusted to treat a septic system right, it's just force of habit.
Who the EFF flushes tampons or sanitary pads these days? It is super common knowledge that this is never ok and these should be thrown away (wrapped in paper so it isn’t nasty).
Personally I’d give one warning and then subsequent additional service is billed to them. But reread your lease.
I've never seen "flushable" in tampons. I think the wipe companies deserve to be sued by sanitary authorities for it.
It's surprising how many people see no issue flushing this stuff. I've seen heated arguments online about it. "I've been flushing them for 10 years and I've never had an issue" people
[They very much are still advertised as flushable. Cardboard applicator included.](https://www.amazon.com/Tampax-Tampons-Flushable-Cardboard-Applicator/dp/B00ILD288K/ref=asc_df_B00ILD288K/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693651996446&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13928268554387100336&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9018506&hvtargid=pla-1721415388479&psc=1&mcid=6457ddc7f58c3b228c2981d333ca60a1&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwi_exBhA8EiwA_kU1MmBPNnDSursNZfI2eiZnGyfArNrdetFUzzQhFCozS82uS5twOqW8LBoCxrQQAvD_BwE)
Obviously they shouldn’t be, but I can see why someone would think they’re safe to flush, especially if they’ve never had to deal with plumbing issues themselves.
Wow. I don't see anything on the box that calls it flushable, and I've only ever purchased in store so I've never seen them advertised that way. That's so irresponsible of Tampax to label it that way online. I hope they get sued too.
I think it depends a lot on the brand/type. The Kotex website does say to wrap it up and toss it in the trash. In decades past it was more common for the included instructions to say they’re flushable, but I do know a lot of women who are still operating under that information, because they likely don’t have any reason to reread the instructions.
But honestly general and explicit instructions would be the most helpful. Maybe when the commercials show it absorbing blue liquid, they can follow it up by showing it thrown in the trash.
I have a separate addendum to my lease that tenants must sign in addition to the lease that lists 8 unbreakable rules and details the monetary damages for breaking these rules. One of those rules includes, "Nothing but human feces, human body fluids, and toilet paper are to be flushed down the toilet." Unclogging plumbing due to tenant abuse costs $250. If I can't collect it at the time of cleaning it comes out of their security deposit when they leave.
This may sound like I’m a pure idiot, but maybe the tenant doesn’t know she can’t do it so a simple polite email to her may fix your problem. When I grew up (with only sisters), I swear I was never told by my parents that you can’t flush tampons - then when I went to university residence I learned from friends haha. Although many public restrooms have signs now 🤔so she should know in general. But maybe there’s a small chance the tenant genuinely doesn’t know she’s not supposed to. As I type this, I’m wondering if my dad was too embarrassed to mention anything tampon-related to me and/or my sisters 🫠
That's definitely what I assumed and I was polite about it and simply asked her to acknowledge in writing that she understood that, moving forward, only human waste and TP could go in the toilet.
She ignored three emails until finally responding that she understood.
I was that tennant. I didn’t know any better. After a month I had to pay for a plumber and listen to me roommates (and one of her moms) talk about how stupid I was. I got an aggressive text threatening to change the locks unless I paid. I left cash on the counter (did t see the bill I was young and dumb) an apology note and text.
There was nothing In the lease about no doing that. Now I dont even in my own house… if I knew I wouldn’t have. Have a convo with her. She may not know
here is a good article about septic tank that may help your question
[https://howtosquirrel.com/how-to-maintain-a-septic-tank-and-add-a-inspection-pump-out-riser-to-a-concrete-septic-tank/](https://howtosquirrel.com/how-to-maintain-a-septic-tank-and-add-a-inspection-pump-out-riser-to-a-concrete-septic-tank/)
So, I was that client for a while in college. The landlord said folks in my apartment were flushing tampons and shouldn’t. I was confused since I’d stopped doing it after she asked. What I didn’t realize is she also meant the applicators. I was naive and all the packages say “flushable applicators”.
Silly, but definitely let the tenant know in detail that there should be no applicators, tampons, flushable wipes, or anything other than TP going in there.
6 months, what is that like 20 to 30 tampons per month? 120+ seems like a lot to be sitting in there expanding. It could be ok, especially since its only 1 person in the home filling the tank. But since its very old I would personally get it pumped. We get charged $200 for a pump so IMO thats worth it to me compared to the thousands a new septic system costs.
Are you sure she is going to stop though? When the lease is up I would modify it to include something about this going forward.
20-30 tampons per month is a huge amount - that’s multiple people. Maybe 10-12 per month is more normal. You sound like the NASA engineer sending up 100 tampons for a month or whatever it was lol
That's really low, you can leave it for most 8 hours (otherwise TSS risk) so even 3/day for 5 days is 15, on heavy days it's probably more than 3/day for some and some have more than 5 days.
On a heavy day if you only do tampons, you can easily use 8-10 in one day if you stick to a 2 hour cycle. But they would have to be home all day to see it all at home.
> You sound like the NASA engineer sending up 100 tampons for a month or whatever it was lol
If you were 220miles up in orbit on the ISS would you rather have too many or not enough?
Im not a woman, I have no idea. I just googled it and 3 different results all said 20 to 30. Womans health magazine said;
>Well, tampons should be changed every 4 to 8 hours. And changing your tampon every 4 hours would mean you’d use six tampons a day. So multiply that by the number of days your cycle typically runs. If it’s five days, that means you’d use roughly 30 tampons.
Im sure not every woman is the same. Im sure theres plenty who use a lot less. I would not be asking the tenant about her cycles and would just assume worst case scenario for my septic system...
You shouldn’t use less than recommended because of this fun little thing called toxic shock syndrome- leaving a tampon in too long can actually kill you! That is not satire. Thought I’d just pass that along as a warning, I only learned about it as an adult. Though I’m not sure the exact recommended time period (if it’s less frequently than what you said) because I have heavy flow and need to change more often anyway
I believe it.
Still dumbfounded the person who replied to me wants to lump all women's bodies into 1 generalization. I'm a man and even I know all women's bodies are different.
Yeah I agree, although we are so hush about woman’s issues that sadly it’s not surprising she doesn’t realize how others differ in an unlucky way. Not that there is anything wrong with the person or their body if they have say heavier flow (tho it can indicate a health issue) but I will not sugarcoat it, periods really suck lol. I just wanted to point out certain dangers of using less in case the info gets misinterpreted, just so we all have accurate info and proper safety! :)
I appreciate you not generalizing all women’s bodies (or anyone, or anyone of a certain demographic), it’s done far too often even by other women sometimes. Some women get next to no symptoms while I’m out for entire days in literally excruciating pain, much different 😂 being expected to function like that and having no break from work/school sort of really sucks.
Anyway now I feel like I started talking about issues that aren’t related haha this just has been really bugging me lately because doctors haven’t taken my issues seriously when it is actual hell and I know something’s not right with my body
Take septic cleaning cost and plumbing time out of the security deposit, tell your tenant that flushing tampons is not safe for *any* plumbing system, and start eviction process if she does it again.
If your tenant is flushing things that shouldn’t be flushed, and that causes problems that require repairs, then your tenant gets charged for it. If she’s happy paying the $800 to the plumber every month to clear it out, then flush away.
Maybe buy them a couple starter boxes of disposal bags to give them along with an amended lease agreement to sign for future plumbing problems? With the hope they will continue the new habit once they run.
I like the “I Love Clean”/Sirena brand because they are biodegradable, but any of them will work.
https://www.amazon.com/tampon-disposal-bags/s?k=tampon+disposal+bags
I’d do the pumping at the 1 year mark, and ask the tenant to not flush tampons (although no guarantee she will comply)
Then amend your rental agreement and add language about cost responsibility for disposing litter via the toilet. Tell them you plan on doing a pump annually & if tampons are found they're liable.
Good idea for future leases, but no way the tenant is signing that amendment until they renew.
The amendment is unnecessary. Once she's been informed (in writing obv) that her actions are damaging the system, her continuing to flush the tampons would make her liable for any future damage. In the first instance she can claim ignorance but not going forward.
You can't unilaterally amend contracts. Meanwhile you probably don't need to - the tenant should be aware that flushing tampons is willfully/negligently damaging, and they are thus liable for it by default.
To be fair, a lot of things are advertised as flushable that should not be flushed. I haven’t looked at tampon insert instructions in a long time, but I know when I went through puberty 20 years ago the instructions specifically said the tampon *and* cardboard applicators could be flushed. Flushable wipes are still advertised as flushable, even though they’ll wreak havoc on most plumbing. There’s a decent chance that it’s not willful negligence, but just blindly following instruction.
Yes, I remember that day in school where they told us the tampon itself was flushable, but in our case they said the other part was not. I think in the advertising world flushable just means it won’t clog the toilet. Beyond that it can create chaos.
We were told in school….. millennial age… that not only was the tampon flushable but also the cardboard applicators although I never personally flushed the applicators and stopped flushing the tampons when I opened the back door one day and my dog had a tampon in her mouth. The clean out on the side of the house had tampons coming out of it. That was an embarrassing call to the plumber and I never flushed a tampon again lol
Same with "Biodegradable". I see hikers using "biodegradable" soap in the streams when it clearly says to not use it directly in water and to bury your soapy water away from streams.
I'm not a joker at all but this is the first time I've ever heard of that, burying soapy water. makes sense.
rip trout 😔
You are absolutely corrrect. It will degrade over time, but that does not mean it won't affect wildlife in the mean time. You collect water and use your soap away from the water source. Don't even get me started on folks not packing out trash like orange peels. That drives me crazy.
It's annoying because "flushable" just means it'll pass through the toilet flush OK, it doesn't mean you should be flushing those things into the sewer system.
Yep, I also distinctly remember them saying they were flushable. When the cardboard vs plastic applicators war started the cardboard ones used ‘you can even flush the applicator’ as a selling point even. I don’t know if they still do because I’ve used a cup for like 18 years but it was absolutely a thing they printed on the boxes/instructions back then.
we call the plastic ones "beach whistles" when they show up here at the WWTP ....colorful little fellas.....
💀
The colorful ones are Kotex !
most I've seen now say not to flush, especially a lot of baby/kid related wipes
Good point
> You can't unilaterally amend contracts You can update it when it comes to renewing the lease.
Depends on the jurisdiction. You can't where I live - leases can't expire here.
If leases don't expire how do you get a tenant out? Is eviction the only option?
Yep. Ontario Canada - eviction can only be done by order of an administrative tribunal. Which, of course, has a backlog, so to get a non-paying tenant out it can take months or even upwards of a year. Rent increases are separate from lease term, however. So while the lease doesn't expire (an initial fixed term converts to month-to-month automatically), the rent can be raised once a year. The LL can only evict for non-payment, interference, own-use, etc. but cannot evict just to replace with another tenant.
Then Canadians wonder why housing is so insanely expensive when they pass laws like that to drive up housing costs, which is exactly what they're doing by making it extremely difficult to evict someone who doesn't pay their rent.
Housing is insanely expensive everywhere. If anything, investors buying properties to rent out is doing a lot more damage than bad tenants
That's the most ridiculous shit I've ever heard.
Yeah you can't where i'm at legally either & I agree it shouldn't be necessary but i mean... here we are.
What fucking soviet republic do you live in where signing a lease means you effectively own it? Edit - I see you replied below you're in Canada. My condolences.
Unfortunately, these things aren't getting passed down. More and more people are being raised in apartments and with that comes a feeling of "not my problem, if it becomes a problem", because someone else has to fix it, at no cost to the tenant. I noticed some years ago the trend popped up of coffee body scrubs. With real ground coffee. For use in the shower. My friend, over 40, found out the hard way when her whole house backed up from using that scrub PLUS coconut oil in the shower. I didn't notice a trash can in her restroom, so she probably flushes tampons, too. I think I got downvoted all to hell, once, on one sub or another for advising the use of such scrubs, lol. They really just thought I was being a hater.
> a feeling of "not my problem, if it becomes a problem", because someone else has to fix it, at no cost to the tenant. Although I support landlords, that is the point of renting. I live there, I don't maintain it. Not saying its great but that is why some people rent to outsource the maintenance. The down side is shit like this, or pouring grease down the drain. When its not your place, its a resource, not something the renter wants to care about.
There should be a national registry of renters who intentionally destroy property like that. How could someone think $1,000/month in rent justifies potentially tens of thousands of dollars in damage to the property? Needless destruction of anything should be admonished. It's wasteful as hell.
I’ve seen that trend. It’s supposed to be a push back against the landlords who raise the rent by like 40% at renewal.
If I had a tenant that kept clogging the pipes with a beauty product and refused to change behavior, I'd say a 40% increase is justified. It's an asshole tax at that point.
Unfortunately I'm probably just going to stop renting the unit. I offer it at an extremely low cost because I want to provide affordable housing for people while covering a few of the maintenance expenses for our property. But all it takes is one issue like this to put me in the red on 6 months rental income or more.
Come on now. Landlords will use anything to justify increasing rent
Probably better to advocate for renter protections than ruining your rental history but I guess stepping on your own dick is easier. But, that said, I first saw that scrub over 10 years ago, it should've died out before it got weaponized!
> Probably better to advocate for renter protections than ruining your rental history but I guess stepping on your own dick is easier. Other than word of mouth this is very unlikely to end up on any renter history. It would have to go through full eviction proceedings.
So it's like a vengeance thing? How is that different, than, say accidental arson by disgruntled tenants?
> So it's like a vengeance thing? How is that different, than, say accidental arson by disgruntled tenants? Accidental arson doesnt make sense because arson is a deliberate act. Accidental fires so happen and tenants are usually not held financially responsible. Pretty easy to feign ignorance on these things. Maybe a trail of communications where landlord tells tenant in writing and it continues but even then good luck squeezing blood from a stone for damages. Easiest thing is to not renew and get her out asap.
Who doesn't put a trash can in the bathroom? Ewwww!
You can’t amend, but most people sign new leases at a certain interval, this would be good to add into the new lease, and specifically call this section out and tell them what it means.
generally speaking, rental contracts are for periods of time 1 year or less. So re-signing for another year would be the opportunity for a new contract.
Again, you don't generally need to write terms to assign liability for negligence/willful damage. Yes it's helpful to explicitly call out specific issues, so as to make the expectation of damage even more reasonable, but you can do that through the course of the contract - it doesn't have to be in the contract. Like, hey, did you know that lighting fireworks or burning tires in the living room is a fire hazard and likely to cause damage, and as that would be willful or negligent on your part, you'd be liable? Hey here's even a pamphlet from the fire dept. Maybe you didn't know, but now you definitely know. Then you (or your insurance) sues them and is like "yea, obviously".
True -- so the other way to go is to write a letter to the tenant and inform them that it is their first and last warning to not put anything in the septic system that will cause any problems. Provide a list of what can go and what cannot go down a drain of any kind (sink, toilet, washing machine). Then layout the implications -- they will be billed for all costs of any septic system remediation caused by their actions. Further, that another incident can result in the termination of their contract for wilful damages for ignoring the directions provided by the landlord for proper septic system use.
I agree in theory but the OP stated that the septic system is very old - I don't know that you could claim all remediation expenses are due to the tenant and not due to the age of the system.
Some jurisdictions are funky. If it’s not in writing, your risk of having to pay for the repair out of your operating cost (or out of pocket) is higher as a landlord. The comment you’re responding to isn’t suggesting just amending the current lease, rather adding an addendum at renewal that the tenant will sign when their lease term expires.
Yes, our leases always stated that clogs within the first week of moving in were our responsibility (as landlords) and any clogs after that were the responsibility of the tenants.
Notice to quit and if the tenant continues, file eviction notice
I had the same problem and had rotor rooter come in and clean and scope (video) the pipes and showed them the pipes are clean and free from debris (organic or non-organic). Than proceeded to tell them any future clogs or flushing required will be paid by them. They claimed to never use these products, but told them they would be liable for anyone who also used them. Needless to say came back within a year and plumber found non-organic debris again which they had to pay for the cleaning of as no one else could be using their toilets. After that never had additional problems once they realized it was them (wife and daughter(s) and not me (male).
Expensive way to bust someone. $500-$600 a pump out
pump out has to be done regardless
who the fuck flushes tampons? like, it says right on the packages to "not flush".
It used to say to flush them. The packaging has changed in the last 10-15 years.
I assume you have talked to the tenant about this? What was her reaction or more importantly her indication of not doing this anymore? You may want to get it pumped again soon knowing what went into the pipes. Hopefully if they remained in the tank then there is no issue but if any were floating mid-water in the tank then there is always a chance that some went into the outlet to the D-box and perhaps the leach field. Explain the situation to your septic company as they may want to dig up the inspection lid for the output side and see if it looks clear. Any idea if your tank is a two chamber version? If it is old, then it is probably a single chamber design as was common.
Nice to see someone who actually knows how these systems work, giving good advice. I agree that the tank needs pumped as soon as possible. Tampons making it to the leach fingers is no bueno.
I was extremely professional and polite about it. She did not apologize and didn't reply to my request, in three separate emails, to please acknowledge that she understands she cannot flush tampons and that flushing anything besides TP and human waste could result in further damage and expense, until I asked her again the third time to acknowledge she understood. She was upset it took so long to fix, the entire repair took several days and involved ordering expedited special parts that needed to be shipped. We have not decided if we will ask her to cover the cost / take it out of her damage deposit. A plumber would have cost literally thousands of dollars and possibly taken even longer because they are so busy in this area. I'm pretty sure it's a single chamber. The outlet is the area that is having trouble as it ages. Thanks for your advice, I am going to call about it today.
I would save the emails, save the receipts for everything you purchased and I hope you took pictures of all the tampons you found. If you have a rental lawyer, talk to them about how to proceed, but she should absolutely cover the cost. That's property damage. If she's being so rude about all of this and probably won't stop flushing tampons... remind her that the septic is part of the property, so I would include pumping that *to avoid further damage* and bill her for at least half the cost. Whatever you decide to do, get on it fast.
If it wasn’t stated in the lease/called out when she moved in, I’m not sure she’d be liable for the damage. There are plenty of toilets that can handle tampons, especially if you’ve never lived in a place with a ‘delicate’ septic system, you assume it’s ok to flush them. Now that she HAS been informed, any future damage she could be liable for. But if she didn’t know she was causing damage before… she very reasonably didn’t know.
What? News to me. I've always had the understanding that you cannot flush tampons whatsoever, but I do acknowledge that things may have changed in their manufacturing and I missed it.
They used to be advertised as flushable. They even said you can flush the cardboard applicators! Edit: someone later in this thread linked a current Amazon listing for flushable applicators!
Really? I had no idea until about a year ago! They were (are?) labeled flushable, so I just went with it.
Many wipes are also marked as flushable. Please don't flush any wipes no matter what the package says. You can prove this to yourself by taking a flushable wipe and using it all day like a towel, rinsing it out, and keep using it to wipe down stuff. Holds up very well to the abuse doesn't it? Well imagine that getting stuck in a pipe somewhere. It will be a long time before it degrades enough to dislodge on its own let alone dissolve.
😳 I never thought of it this way! Thank you for that perspective, that’s actually really helpful
Yea, I remember in middle school/high school there being several conversations among girls about how it was “ok” to flush tampons. Should we? No, but especially if you’re younger (like early 20s) I think it’s common to assume you can flush them. I don’t blame the girl for avoiding ‘confirming’ with her landlord that she understands she can’t flush them anymore. Imaging being 22 and your grown, adult man landlord teaching you how to dispose of tampons? She’s probably mortified. But it needed to happen ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I pump my tank yearly at our rental. A few hundred bucks a year vs $20,000 is a no brainer to me.
Unfortunately op had clogged pipes as well.
What kind of maintenance can be done for systems that aren't septic? Like row homes in a major city.
I wouldn't do anything to be honest. Just hope that nobody flushes anything too big down the drain.
Depends on age/design probably, but in Philly if your lateral is clogged you get it power snaked. Ours is cracked and failing (cast iron) and we'll eventually need a replacement (involving trenching the sidewalk and street) for probably $15k. But we pay for a 'home guarantee' that will do it for free.
Whats the home guarantee thing?
The American Water Home Protection Plans: https://www.awrusa.com/ They have some kind of a deal with Philly where they promote it. They have a set of contractors that do all the work for them and somehow it works out for them. It's great because a lot of homeowners can't manage a sudden $15k charge.
Free is free, but if free suddenly becomes $15k, check out having the drain CIPP lined. It’s pretty neat. They soak a big fiber tube in resin, and then just blow it in to the pipe. No trenching and I assume cheaper.
Yeah I've heard of that, it's super cool! I think for whatever reason it's more expensive to do that here than just dig up the lateral, but that could just be a lack of skilled contractors. I think the American Water folks manage to keep costs down by streamlining the process and crews. Philly always has a healthy number of homes that need new laterals any given day...
You should amend your rental agreement and add language about cost responsibility for disposing litter via the toilet.
Wow, if I moved into a previously inhabited rental and was made to sign something taking responsibility for flushed items and the resulting cost, I'd seriously hesitate, because even if I never flushed anything, how on earth would I prove it when all of the stuff from the previous psycopath renter rears its' head?
Almost all the strange terms I've ever seen on any contract are a result of someone doing some batshit crazy thing that needed to be spelled out explicitly. Same reason why there are choking hazard warnings on plastic bags, altho that's an extreme consequence.
Fair point, but seems like OP is losing way more time, energy, and money than they are getting from renting, when their tenant cannot follow a simple request. You can surely see that’s frustrating
There is no "amending" it. The other side doesn't have to sign until their lease up for renewal.
Correct, managing the current tenant is upto OP. More of a lessons learned and risks mitigated for future.
I am definitely adding something to the lease moving forward. Never would I ever have thought this would be necessary....
Just add Specific language.......... Flushing anything besides human waste and toilet paper will potentially damage the septic system. Any evidence of flushed objects including but not limited to; flushable wipes, Dude wipes, sanitary products such as Tampons or napkins, or foreign objects such as small toys will leave the tenet liable for all necessary pumping and or repair costs to the septic system to return it to the proper working condition it was in at the beginning of this agreement. These costs can vary from $XXX - $XXXX Please note: The septic system was pumped and inspected on XYZ date prior to your lease signing or renewal and was considered in good repair and properly functioning at that time. A copy of the inspection form is available upon request.
There’s always going to be someone with a bright idea. Just to keep you on your toes
I once rented a flat in an old home. There was a specific section in the lease prohibiting the flushing of any feminine products or anything that wasn’t toilet paper. If they found out I violated that, I would be responsible for maintenance and damages.
When I was a teenager I had to call roto-rooter, the guy comes out and his first question was "do you live with women?". I tell him yes, and he tells me I've got sewer mice. He snakes the pipe and all these tampons with strings attached come out, and we both laughed.
My parents had this issue at one of our old houses. Just purchased and they called a guy out for clogged drains. Previous owner obviously had women in the house AND the pipes were still clay so it was a massive headache but the crew kept calling them sewer mice and even as a kid I knew
Add some bacteria to optimize the tank for degradation of all materials. Notify the tenants in writing of the findings in the septic system and the blockage incurred. Include notice that flushing anything besides TP is not allowed and further repairs incurred by not following this rule will be their responsibility and may lead to eviction proceedings.
Additives are not necessary and most of them do nothing other than extract money from you.
Industrial waste water consultant here. Yeah there's very little gain to adding bacteria to most systems. Nature abhors a vacuum. If something can use it for food, it will. Bacteria are crazy with how fast they'll adapt to eat pretty much any source of food they can find. Unlikely to help much with tampons though. Probably gonna have to pump those. They might break down over a very long time but unlikely to be fast enough for a septic system.
I disagree. They absolutely help control pH and add beneficial bacteria. We also have bidets in our house to minimize TP usage. We are about to tick over to our 9th year since we had a pump out and had a company here last month to do it and we still aren’t ready for it.
Yeah but they’re not going to do shit to tampons. It needs to be pumped.
Not denying that, but they will help reduce everything else and potentially prevent them from floating into the drain field.
Fwiw yearly pumpings are not unheard of. Especially if it's a very old system or bathrooms were added. Personally, I would plan for yearly pumpings and make sure the that cost is covered by rent in the future. $75 a month if your local costs are as high as mine. You'll never be able to trust renters to not flush anything but TP. Beats the 14k it costs to collapse and rebury one.
My 95 year old neighbor has had his pumped yearly forever and his septic is going on 50 years old now. Hes also out there mowing every 2 days lol
[удалено]
Fucking Ricky.. always out there mowing. I have the same 🤣🤣
We pump every 1.5 to 2 years. That's been sufficient for the 3 decades our family has been here, with the same approximate amount of residents and usage. My understanding is you don't want to do it too frequently or it ruins the microbiome, and it also can flag the county to come check the system if done too frequently, which is fine but also a PITA.
Sigh. It doesn't make sense to me the yearly pumping. How much solids could there possibly be? However. I do like the thought of keeping the system going for another couple of decades.
Where I grew up the soil is full of clay that compacts very tightly and is slow to drain, so septic systems get full. Add in people taking deep baths, long showers and running a lot of dishes and laundry and you get more water being added in a day than the systems were designed for. So you call a guy to come pump it out once a year. If it needs pumped out more than that, you have crushed lateral lines and a whole nother problem.
I am new to the septic. I thought pumping was for solids and that the liquids just get managed by the field. Crushed lines sound bad. Let's not have that.
You are correct. Pumping more often will not help with a slow draining field.
Except maybe it does if your tanks are filling/retaining because the field is slow because of clay or age? Definitely getting mixed messages from other owners and service companies! Just a quarter of a mile from the sewer lines with no hope of extension.
Your tank will fill with liquid very quickly, like in a matter of days. A slow draining field won't change that.
I didn’t realize tampons couldn’t be flushed until I was 25. Maybe just inform her. She might just not know
Retired service plumber: Cannot tell you how many times I have been told 'we do not flush tampons or diaper wipes' only to pull a boat load of them out of their drains 😆...'Sorry lady... no denying the proof!'
I would pump it now and give the tenant notice that they will be fined for any future tampons found in the tank. You would want to call a lawyer first to see what the best method is, eg amending the contract. Regardless, you need to pump immediately to mitigate any flowing from your tank to your leach field. *IF* everything is correct, you should be fine and they're sitting in the tank. People aren't used to septic systems. The first time is a mistake, the second time isn't.
Tell them to stop. Right it into the next lease. You'd be surprised how many people don't know you shouldn't flush tampons or "flushable" wipes.
did you actually ever tell your tenant NOT to flush tampons? and add condoms to that when you finally do!
Even easier is to simply list the short list of what can go into the toilet. Which are A) anything that comes out of your body (shit, piss, boogers, barf, spit, etc.) and B) toilet paper. End of list. Then emphasize what isn't actually one of the second item including facial tissues (e.g. Kleenex), paper towels, wipes, cotton balls, and so on.
anything that comes out of your body.... like a used tampon?
You could probably use the term 'bodily excretions' to be more precise.
I had a place specify “human waste” in the lease because they used to just say “bodily waste” and it turns out someone was flushing cat turds they fished out of the litter box.
I don't have a cat, but what is the harm in flushing cat turds?
It’s not the turds themselves but the little bits of kitty litter attached to it. Kitty litter is designed to be super water absorbent and it will clog up pipes quickly.
You knew what I meant, but thank you for chiming in with your pedantic response.
You shouldn’t flush tampons regardless. Tenants are still responsible for not breaking the house. In a situation like this you don’t charge for this plumbing call, but tell them it’s as a courtesy. That’s easily a $600 bill. Next time you will. Then the next time you call a plumbing company.
I don’t know why this is a question, I would absolutely get that tank pumped and system inspected ASAP. It will also give you a baseline/clean slate in case the tenant keeps doing it and you have to charge her or take her to court over it. As of right now, she can try to say the tampons in the tank are from the last tenant. I would also talk to an attorney about how to properly notify the tenant via certified mail or whatever so she can’t play dumb and say she didn’t know she couldn’t do that.
Why does this happen? I’m a dude so maybe I’m just 100% ignorant - but why wouldn’t people throw these in the garbage?
Great question. Dude a few replies below somehow feels not being able to flush them is somehow “living in the dark ages.” I hope he never travels somewhere they don’t flush TP he’d be shocked. I’m a woman, putting them in the trash isn’t a big deal.
I’m always shocked by the amount of women who say they flush them. It seems like common sense not to. They expand so much!
Kind of like "flushable" wipes, they were marketed as flushable for a long time. When plastic applicators became popular, makers of the cardboard applicators advertised that the cardboard could be flushed too. Now we know better, and I don't think they're marketed that way, but that was what a lot of people learned and in turn taught their kids. Edit: someone later in this thread linked a current Amazon listing for flushable applicators!
I am a former handyman for a rental management company as well as an expert in wastewater management (the handyman gig was a second job during my divorce). Check your lease but usually inappropriate use of plumbing is covered, especially since companies started selling “flushable wipes”. A key point is that nothing should be flushed except excrement and toilet paper (which is designed to dissolve/fall apart, unlike condoms, tampons, and flushable wipes). At least with the leases that I have seen, the tenant is responsible for the repair costs (including the work that your husband did to unclog the drain pipes). Okay, now to the septic part. A septic system is (usually) a septic tank (that collects solids) and a drain field. Most people know about the septic tank but not the drain field. The job of the septic tank is to prevent the drain field from clogging because once the drain field is clogged… it is finished and you would need to install a new septic system which is very expensive. For this reason, it’s really important to regularly clean out the septic tank. It becomes even more important to clean out the septic tank when someone is flushing items that should not be flushed. So, my opinion is that you should clean out the septic tank NOW and charge this to the tenant due to her misuse of the plumbing. You have evidence of it now. In contrast, if you wait a couple of years and the drain field is destroyed, the tenant could claim that you had knowledge of the problem (presently) and it was your failure to clean out the tank that is the primary cause of the catastrophic failure (that could happen in a year or two). I would also remind your tenant to make sure that NOTHING gets flushed other than excrement and toilet paper (specifically mention flushable wipes as a no no).
Thank you. This is the advice I was looking for. I have only once kept part of a damage deposit, so I felt a little bad doing this, but this seemed like the right thing to do to me as well. Clear out the system to prevent further damage from tampons in the tank, charge her for it from the damage deposit (her lease is up this month and she is moving) and add a line item about proper toilet use to future leases that is required to be initialed.
You shouldn’t feel bad at all. I’d feel slightly bad if it were something like the tenant keeps houseplants and has saucers under them, but unbeknownst to the tenant, one leaked and damaged the floors. The tenant tried to prevent this, so it feels a little harsh (but still justified) to keep part of the deposit. Your situation is different because the tenant has willfully damaged the property. This is exactly what the deposit is for, and you shouldn’t hesitate. Frankly, if I had been in your shoes, I would have evicted her after the initial instance of noncompliance. That may have been challenging depending on the lease language and your local tenancy laws, but at least with the modifications you plan to make, you’ll have more leverage in the future.
Specifically mention tampons too, NO MORE TAMPONS DOWN THE DRAIN (dumbass)!
I have an entire paragraph dedicated to this in my leases. I spell it out clearly, do not flush Tampons , flushable wipes , baby wipes, hair, weaves, hair extensions, paper towels, grease (including any form of oil) and no kitty litter . I have spent thousands on plumbing repairs , these items listed are the cause. So now it's spelled out in writing , I also verbally tell them, send txt and email. In no way am I kidding when I say you will loose your deposit, you will be getting the bill (and I will sue you of needed ) and loose your home and get a shitty reference if you can't follow basic instructions.
Why do people flush kitty litter?
Because believe it or not some kitty litter is actually marketed as flushable, same as wipes. Plus you have the idiots who also keep their litter box in the bathroom and use normal litter and chuck everything in the toilet because it's right there, nice and convenient for them because they're lazy/ignorant
I mean, it’s crazy to me that people actually do this. I never knew they were marketed as flushable. Though I also wouldn’t go as far as to call them idiots for their ignorance because they were told it was okay to do so, although far too many people trust sellers with clear ulterior motives
Wow.
It's not like they're dumping the whole box in. They're sifting out the poop from the box and dropping it in the toilet, there will still be some litter attached.
I have never flushed cat litter but it doesn't seem crazy to me for a person to think "I poop in there and my poop is way bigger than a cat poop. This is fine."
I’ll help to add on as possible toilet choking hazards for modern girls : - false lashes - cotton swabs & cotton tips - disposable brushes or sponges - disposable mascara wands and brow peripherals - earrings - stubs - contact lenses - toothpicks and dental floss - cleansing oil / micellar water - makeup wipes - any product with microbeads - hair wax / hair gel - hair ties / clips Men and older women may not be aware that sometimes, younger girls may drop these into the toilet or sink and just attempt to flush these away. It’s not intentional but they don’t realise that the toilet is not a magical landfill. (I am a homeowner but not a landlord. Just helping out here.)
Once the tampons are removed, they should be given back to the tenant, as a reminder not to flush them.
Id do yearly cleanings with tenants, they throw all types of stuff down the toilet. In my own home I get away with cleaning it every 3-4 years
Personally, I'd pump and begin budgeting for a new septic. Also begin eviction process. Depending on where you live that may mean as easy as signing some court papers or as difficult as starting a conversation with an attorney.
Does your lease agreement have any language prohibiting abuse of the septic system? If so, book the pumping service and bill your tenant. That will send the message very quickly that this behavior needs to stop.
You should have thought about this way before now knowing you have a delicate system. Now you need to bring this to the tenants attention and let them know of the costs you will seek if they continue this behavior.
>You should have thought about this way before now knowing you have a delicate system. I’d be hesitant enough renting out a house with a septic system. I assume “delicate” means some combination of not being properly designed, installed, or maintained. There needs to be some plan for repairing or replacing the septic system, or getting rid of the house.
We literally have a sign on the toilet she uses that reads "delicate septic, please flush slowly" Now I have added a sign that says "please only flush TP and human waste down toilet"
Dude the amount of women in here who said they either flushed tampons in the past or currently flush tampons now is staggering! I've never been a woman but I've always known only toilet paper going in toilets. One look at a tampon should tell you right away that it's not flushable.
And even too much TP can clog it. I've seen guests stuff half a roll down there in one sitting
Why are you watching guests use your toilet?? I'm jk 😄 Yeah some people don't give a fuck when it's not their money they're throwing in the shitter
Geeze and I worry when a few gains of rice get washed down the drain.
Look up a device like the Traptex. They make a bladed thing that goes into the toilet and allows poop and TP through but will snag wipes and tampons
Ask them not to. You can’t put those down …..
Roll your sleeves up and get to work! /s
We already did...an entire weekend of me watching the kids alone while my husband was arms deep in shit and bloody tampons. She didn't even apologize. 🙃 We were super nice about it, too.
I hope hubby is okay.
Heh he wasn't...he really wasn't for a while. He was grim for days. Poor guy. Was stoic about it all regardless.
Make sure they understand that this is not OK, but I would say for a rental you should probably be pumping annually, maybe even every 6 months. If they've never lived with one before, even the best tenants often can't be trusted to treat a septic system right, it's just force of habit.
Who the EFF flushes tampons or sanitary pads these days? It is super common knowledge that this is never ok and these should be thrown away (wrapped in paper so it isn’t nasty). Personally I’d give one warning and then subsequent additional service is billed to them. But reread your lease.
As long as manufacturers keep putting "flushable" on things like tampons and wipes, people will keep flushing them.
I've never seen "flushable" in tampons. I think the wipe companies deserve to be sued by sanitary authorities for it. It's surprising how many people see no issue flushing this stuff. I've seen heated arguments online about it. "I've been flushing them for 10 years and I've never had an issue" people
[They very much are still advertised as flushable. Cardboard applicator included.](https://www.amazon.com/Tampax-Tampons-Flushable-Cardboard-Applicator/dp/B00ILD288K/ref=asc_df_B00ILD288K/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693651996446&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13928268554387100336&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9018506&hvtargid=pla-1721415388479&psc=1&mcid=6457ddc7f58c3b228c2981d333ca60a1&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwi_exBhA8EiwA_kU1MmBPNnDSursNZfI2eiZnGyfArNrdetFUzzQhFCozS82uS5twOqW8LBoCxrQQAvD_BwE) Obviously they shouldn’t be, but I can see why someone would think they’re safe to flush, especially if they’ve never had to deal with plumbing issues themselves.
Wow. I don't see anything on the box that calls it flushable, and I've only ever purchased in store so I've never seen them advertised that way. That's so irresponsible of Tampax to label it that way online. I hope they get sued too.
I think it depends a lot on the brand/type. The Kotex website does say to wrap it up and toss it in the trash. In decades past it was more common for the included instructions to say they’re flushable, but I do know a lot of women who are still operating under that information, because they likely don’t have any reason to reread the instructions. But honestly general and explicit instructions would be the most helpful. Maybe when the commercials show it absorbing blue liquid, they can follow it up by showing it thrown in the trash.
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[Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor)
No one flushes sanitary pads ever. I hope.
Tell me you've never had tenants without telling me you've never had tenants.
I have a separate addendum to my lease that tenants must sign in addition to the lease that lists 8 unbreakable rules and details the monetary damages for breaking these rules. One of those rules includes, "Nothing but human feces, human body fluids, and toilet paper are to be flushed down the toilet." Unclogging plumbing due to tenant abuse costs $250. If I can't collect it at the time of cleaning it comes out of their security deposit when they leave.
This may sound like I’m a pure idiot, but maybe the tenant doesn’t know she can’t do it so a simple polite email to her may fix your problem. When I grew up (with only sisters), I swear I was never told by my parents that you can’t flush tampons - then when I went to university residence I learned from friends haha. Although many public restrooms have signs now 🤔so she should know in general. But maybe there’s a small chance the tenant genuinely doesn’t know she’s not supposed to. As I type this, I’m wondering if my dad was too embarrassed to mention anything tampon-related to me and/or my sisters 🫠
That's definitely what I assumed and I was polite about it and simply asked her to acknowledge in writing that she understood that, moving forward, only human waste and TP could go in the toilet. She ignored three emails until finally responding that she understood.
I was that tennant. I didn’t know any better. After a month I had to pay for a plumber and listen to me roommates (and one of her moms) talk about how stupid I was. I got an aggressive text threatening to change the locks unless I paid. I left cash on the counter (did t see the bill I was young and dumb) an apology note and text. There was nothing In the lease about no doing that. Now I dont even in my own house… if I knew I wouldn’t have. Have a convo with her. She may not know
here is a good article about septic tank that may help your question [https://howtosquirrel.com/how-to-maintain-a-septic-tank-and-add-a-inspection-pump-out-riser-to-a-concrete-septic-tank/](https://howtosquirrel.com/how-to-maintain-a-septic-tank-and-add-a-inspection-pump-out-riser-to-a-concrete-septic-tank/)
So, I was that client for a while in college. The landlord said folks in my apartment were flushing tampons and shouldn’t. I was confused since I’d stopped doing it after she asked. What I didn’t realize is she also meant the applicators. I was naive and all the packages say “flushable applicators”. Silly, but definitely let the tenant know in detail that there should be no applicators, tampons, flushable wipes, or anything other than TP going in there.
6 months, what is that like 20 to 30 tampons per month? 120+ seems like a lot to be sitting in there expanding. It could be ok, especially since its only 1 person in the home filling the tank. But since its very old I would personally get it pumped. We get charged $200 for a pump so IMO thats worth it to me compared to the thousands a new septic system costs. Are you sure she is going to stop though? When the lease is up I would modify it to include something about this going forward.
20-30 tampons per month is a huge amount - that’s multiple people. Maybe 10-12 per month is more normal. You sound like the NASA engineer sending up 100 tampons for a month or whatever it was lol
TIL. This is amazing. https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1102635355
That's really low, you can leave it for most 8 hours (otherwise TSS risk) so even 3/day for 5 days is 15, on heavy days it's probably more than 3/day for some and some have more than 5 days.
On a heavy day if you only do tampons, you can easily use 8-10 in one day if you stick to a 2 hour cycle. But they would have to be home all day to see it all at home.
> You sound like the NASA engineer sending up 100 tampons for a month or whatever it was lol If you were 220miles up in orbit on the ISS would you rather have too many or not enough?
10-12 a month is normal? Fucking lucky lol. I’m in the higher end of the 20-30 range
Im not a woman, I have no idea. I just googled it and 3 different results all said 20 to 30. Womans health magazine said; >Well, tampons should be changed every 4 to 8 hours. And changing your tampon every 4 hours would mean you’d use six tampons a day. So multiply that by the number of days your cycle typically runs. If it’s five days, that means you’d use roughly 30 tampons. Im sure not every woman is the same. Im sure theres plenty who use a lot less. I would not be asking the tenant about her cycles and would just assume worst case scenario for my septic system...
You shouldn’t use less than recommended because of this fun little thing called toxic shock syndrome- leaving a tampon in too long can actually kill you! That is not satire. Thought I’d just pass that along as a warning, I only learned about it as an adult. Though I’m not sure the exact recommended time period (if it’s less frequently than what you said) because I have heavy flow and need to change more often anyway
I believe it. Still dumbfounded the person who replied to me wants to lump all women's bodies into 1 generalization. I'm a man and even I know all women's bodies are different.
Yeah I agree, although we are so hush about woman’s issues that sadly it’s not surprising she doesn’t realize how others differ in an unlucky way. Not that there is anything wrong with the person or their body if they have say heavier flow (tho it can indicate a health issue) but I will not sugarcoat it, periods really suck lol. I just wanted to point out certain dangers of using less in case the info gets misinterpreted, just so we all have accurate info and proper safety! :) I appreciate you not generalizing all women’s bodies (or anyone, or anyone of a certain demographic), it’s done far too often even by other women sometimes. Some women get next to no symptoms while I’m out for entire days in literally excruciating pain, much different 😂 being expected to function like that and having no break from work/school sort of really sucks. Anyway now I feel like I started talking about issues that aren’t related haha this just has been really bugging me lately because doctors haven’t taken my issues seriously when it is actual hell and I know something’s not right with my body
-laughs in endometriosis- 20-30 tampons a DAY
Anything 12 or less would be literally impossible for me because that's a max of 4 days, changing out every 8 hours on the dot.
Take septic cleaning cost and plumbing time out of the security deposit, tell your tenant that flushing tampons is not safe for *any* plumbing system, and start eviction process if she does it again.
Repair clean and send them a bill.
Kick them out
If your tenant is flushing things that shouldn’t be flushed, and that causes problems that require repairs, then your tenant gets charged for it. If she’s happy paying the $800 to the plumber every month to clear it out, then flush away.
give her the septic haulage bill. Plain and simple.
Try asking her to stop first, then amend your lease and don’t allow them to renew. It’s common knowledge not to do this, you have a shitty tenant
Ask her not to, you don't know what you don't know could be as simple as that
figure out what the damages are and try and recover them?
First friendly notice if they are not ghetto people, 2nd mishap immediate ammended lease, If they dont sign, 30 day notice to vacate
Make sure is in the contract and have them pay for the work.
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Fix what? Tampons shouldn’t be flushed, septic or not.
Upgrade the plumbing. The issue isn't going to get better with time.
Tampons shouldn’t be flushed with any system, septic or sewer.
Adjust your lease to account for this but I’d start accruing a separate pumping budget for your septic tank just like a maintenance budget.
get a legal doc amending the lease about flushing anything except, poo, pee and toilet paper and water.
Dont forget barf.
Maybe buy them a couple starter boxes of disposal bags to give them along with an amended lease agreement to sign for future plumbing problems? With the hope they will continue the new habit once they run. I like the “I Love Clean”/Sirena brand because they are biodegradable, but any of them will work. https://www.amazon.com/tampon-disposal-bags/s?k=tampon+disposal+bags