If you manage an office building which contains a large workforce, you will understand what a hammering the sewer system can take. The average person urinates between 6 and 7 times a day and may also pass solid waste during visits to the bathroom. As well as human waste, the plumbing system may also have to cope with large quantities of hand towels and other items which are flushed down the toilet. Below is a guide to 4 things you can do which will help to reduce the chance the toilets in your office block will become blocked.

Install hand dryers

Hand dryers use a jet of warm air to dry the hands of the user quickly. Installing hand dryers will allow you to remove paper hand towels which are a leading cause of blockages. Hand towels are thicker than traditional toilet paper and so do not break down once they enter your building's sewer pipes.

Place sanitary bins in the female bathrooms

Sanitary products such as pads and tampons can quickly cause a blockage within a plumbing system. You should carry out a check to make sure that there are an adequate number of sanitary bins in all of the female bathrooms in the building. Ideally, you should place one sanitary product bin in each cubicle, as this will reduce the chance that an embarrassed person will flush their pad or tampon rather than carry it in the semi-public space of a bathroom to place it in a bin by the sink.

Place warning signs on toilet doors

Often, people will flush inappropriate items down the toilet out of ignorance of the potential damage they could cause. The golden rule is that nothing should be flushed down the toilet except toilet tissues. You may wish to place a warning sign on each toilet door which clearly lists items such as hand towels and sanitary products down the toilet.

Train the cleaning staff to carry out inspections

You should train the cleaning staff to perform regular inspections so they can spot the signs of a blocked toilet. If the staff see any unusual objects in the toilet basin or notice that the water is slow to drain from a toilet bowl, they should immediately report it to the building maintenance department.

If you suspect that a toilet or sewer pipe in your office building has become blocked, you should contact a blocked drain specialist today.