Toilet paper is safe to flush, as 26 off-the-shelf toilet paper brands with a “Green Mark” have been certified water-soluble in Taiwan, the Ministry of Environment said last week.
The “Do Not Flush Toilet Paper” signs posted in many restrooms have misled people to believe that toilet paper would clog the toilet, ministry officials told a forum in Taipei on Wednesday held jointly with the Taiwan Toilet Association on the cleanup and management of public restrooms.
Toilet paper is made of short cellulose fibers that can easily break apart in water, they said.
Twenty-six toilet paper brands circulating in Taiwan passed the CNS 1091 test and are certified water-soluble, they said.
Toilet paper would not block a toilet’s drainpipe, which is about 10cm wide, if it passes through the narrower P-trap, at about 5cm.
Taiwan Institute of Property Management president Kuo Chi-tzu (郭紀子) said that rather than toilet paper, household goods such as wet wipes, cotton swabs, cotton balls, tampons or dental floss are the main cause of blocked toilets.
While slurry, tile fragments or steel bars could fall into the pipelines of toilets and cause a blockage, aging pipes or greasy dirt, urine scale and fecal residue that have accumulated at pipe curves could narrow the inside diameter of the pipeline and block water flow, he said.
Therefore, regular maintenance of drainage systems is crucial to ensuring unobstructed water flow, including pipeline inspections and high-pressure washing, he added.
The ministry has launched an online poll (https://esms.moenv.gov.tw/toilet/VoteToilet2025) for people to select “The Best Public Toilet” from 40 restrooms qualified for the vote, with each person allowed to cast four votes per day. The poll runs through the end of this month.
Meanwhile, Friends of Daan Forest Park Foundation managing director Tsai Chien-sheng (蔡建生) said on the ministry’s podcast that the P-trap and drainpipe sizes are worldwide standards.
However, paper towels or wet wipes made of nonwoven fabric, which is insoluble in water, are difficult to break apart in water, he said.
Regarding why toilet paper is sometimes not flushed into the pipeline, Tsai said the key lies in the flushing power of the toilet.
Toilets with a low-profile tank produce less noise, but have weaker flushing power, which usually requires an additional 2kg of water pressure from outside the tank to create a vortex for the flush, he said.
Many silent flush toilets, which are widely introduced in concert halls, are rather impractical for public restrooms, as the ceiling or roof is usually not high enough to offer extra water pressure, he said.
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