There are things that shouldn't be flushed down a toilet—and most of them don't get very far. They clog pipes, back up drains and create headaches for plumbers. But occasionally, something makes it through the plumbing and into the sewer system. And that's where things can get really weird.
From toys and false teeth to traffic cones and garden sheds, wastewater crews have encountered some truly bizarre objects. Of course, not everything found in a sewer was necessarily flushed down a toilet. Some items enter through storm drains, open manholes or other routes. But however they got there, these discoveries make one thing clear: Our sewers have seen some pretty strange stuff.
Here are some of the most unusual finds reported by wastewater utilities in recent years.
Toy Story: Playtime Down the Drain
Kids are naturally curious about toilets. What happens when you push the handle? Where does everything go? And can your favorite action figure survive the journey?
Some toys have made it surprisingly far. In 2023, workers at a sewage treatment plant in England showed off an impressive collection of rescued characters, including:
- Dora the Explorer
- Transformers
- Minions
- Action Man
- Shaggy (from “Scooby-Doo”)
And in San Francisco, workers at the Oceanside Treatment Plant once discovered a dozen super-bouncy balls caught in a screening system. When a technician checked the screen, the balls started ricocheting around the room. Zoinks!
Lost and Found: Where the Heck Is My…?
Misplaced your glasses? Lost your keys? Can't find your wallet? You might want to check the nearest wastewater treatment plant. (On second thought, maybe don't.)
In recent years, wastewater workers have reported recovering a surprising assortment of personal possessions, including:
- Glasses, wallets and keys
- False teeth
- Underwear
- Pants and a superhero costume
- Cash (San Francisco wastewater workers have reported finding both a $5 bill and a $100 bill.)
One person's loss is another person's extremely unpleasant treasure hunt.
Today's Specials: Kitchen to Sewer
Your toilet isn't a garbage disposal, and your kitchen sink shouldn't be one, either. Unfortunately, food waste and cooking grease regularly make their way into wastewater systems.
Among the kitchen-related discoveries and problem materials reported by wastewater utilities are:
- Cutlery (knives, forks and other utensils)
- Plastic forks
- Food scraps
- Fats, oils and grease, which can harden and combine with other debris to create massive sewer blockages known as fatbergs
Fatbergs, of course, aren't objects someone dropped down a drain. They're the unfortunate result of other things that should never have entered the wastewater system in the first place.
Go Big or Go Home: Oversized Objects
Some discoveries raise an obvious question: How on earth did that get down there? Consider these finds reported by wastewater utilities:
- A football
- A traffic cone (probably just pushed through an open manhole)
- Car tires
- A chopped-up bed frame
- Pieces of a garden shed
These objects clearly didn't make their way through an ordinary toilet. But they illustrate just how much unwanted debris sewer workers must contend with.
The Flush of Fame: Flushmate® Pressure-assist Technology
While toilets aren't designed to handle superhero costumes or traffic cones, they should be able to handle just about anything they're intended to flush. That's where Flushmate pressure-assisted technology comes in.
Unlike conventional gravity toilets, the Flushmate system uses compressed air to force water into the bowl, pushing waste down the drainpipe instead of pulling it through. That delivers a 233% waste extraction advantage over gravity toilets using the same amount of water.
Flushmate-equipped toilets are far less likely to clog, require less maintenance and stay cleaner-looking longer. And with systems using as little as 0.75 gallons per flush, they deliver serious water savings, too.
Talk to the experts at Flushmate to learn more.
Sources:
SA Water, “The Weird and Wonderful of Adelaide's Sewers,” October 2022
Severn Trent, “From Dummies and Wet Wipes to Toys and Tins,” April 2023
Severn Trent, “The Strangest Things Flushed Down the Loo in Birmingham and the Black Country,” July 2023
Severn Trent, “Top Ten Weird and Wacky Things Incorrectly Put Into the Sewers,” May 2024
Severn Trent, “Halloween Horrors That Could Have Caused Blockages,” October 2024
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, “Here Are the 3 Most Unusual Things Found in the Sewer,” February 2025