Your plumber is downstairs, repairing a leaky waste pipe. You’ve made a point to use the sink and toilet ahead of time, so you don’t run water down the pipes. As you sip your morning beverage and catch up on some reading your bladder tells you you’re ready for another potty break. No big deal; you can use the toilet as long as you don’t flush…right?

Plumbers across the globe are peed on every day due to this common misconception.

While water and waste would absolutely rush through the pipes if a faucet were turned on or a toilet were flushed, a simple trip to the toilet with an innocent #1 can also cause a trickle down the pipes. The reason for this is displacement.

Your toilet is designed to keep the water level, in the bowl, constant. When added contents in the bowl cause the water to raise or lower, the toilet will naturally level it back out. In the case of a rise in water (due to the addition of urine), head pressure in the toilet causes a portion of the toilet water to displace down the drain.

So if your friendly neighborhood plumber is hard at work fixing your waste pipes, give them a holler, when you find yourself in this predicament, and they can simply step back and place a bucket under the pipe to avoid a smelly shower.