#SB50: Stadium prep includes flushing all 1,135 toilets, urinals, sinks at once. #SewerBowl

A bowl tradition unlike any other, behold the Super Flush.

When a stadium, arena, or large-scale entertainment venue like it opens, the plumbing is tested by flushing every single toilet, urinal, and sink drain at the same time. It's been coined the Super Flush.

It happened the year Super Bowl 50 host Levi's Stadium opened in 2014, when "hundreds of workers and volunteers" super-flushed the drains not only once, but for a full 30 minutes to ensure the water-pressure system functioned properly. It looks something like this:



While the earliest reference to Super Flushing we could find was 1998 in Baltimore, we suspect the practice predates this. Plumbing functions can be particularly stressed during big events, like in Cleveland in 2007 when 50,000 gallons of water overflowed from leaky toilets during a Kenny Chesney concert. A Super Flush of more than 100 johns after repairs were made confirmed the fix was effective.

The urban legend of a city sewer explosion due to a Super Bowl halftime surge is only a myth, but it remains one of our favorites.

SPACE: "May the force pee with you," water recycling on the Space Station

It may not be a Star Wars galaxy far far away, but when astronauts are far from home, water is a life force.

Astronaut Chris Hadfield shows us how the water flows on the International Space Station, featuring a closed-loop treatment system in which the water astronauts use—even their wastewater—is recycled and made safe for drinking.

Many on earth are surprised to learn the water they flush is treated in a similar—but much larger—water cycle: The same water that flows down your toilet ultimately makes its way back to the environment, the common source for your drinking water at home. In Cleveland, the water cycle includes Lake Erie where we discharge treated water and from which Cleveland Water draws its clean-water supply.

It's the same cycle. The Space Station's is just much further from home.

RELATED STORIES:

• SPACE: How do astronauts pee in outer space?
• STAR WARS: "The flush awakens," 9 questions about Star Wars, sewers and sanitation
• TECH: How do toilets work on the International Space Station?

TRENDING: Never forget, it was a toilet that made time travel possible. #BackToTheFutureDay

Back To The Future's Doc Brown and his illustration of the time-travel-enabling flux capacitor.

The future has arrived. As the past. In the present. Thanks to a toilet.

October 21, 2015 has been declared Back To The Future Day, a day of '80s sci-fi nostalgia, the date to which Back To The Future's Marty McFly travels in the second movie of the trilogy in hopes of rescuing his future family.

What made the films' time travel possible was the flux capacitor. What made the flux capacitor possible? Remember, it was inventor Doc Brown slipping and falling off his toilet:

Sure, the flush toilet was considered the greatest medical advancement of the last 200 years. But in the BTTF universe, it became—more importantly—the greatest inspiration of the entire space-time continuum.

Heavy. We know.

RELATED STORIES

• TECH: Bath to the future? Toilet tech predictions for the year 2030 
• MOVIES: Lake Erie Sharknado? Unlikely. Raining sea lampreys? Plausible.
• MEDIA: WMMS host Alan Cox wants to attend our Sewer University?

WATCH: Oscar-nominated director's toilet paper commercials will make you laugh. And paranoid.

What do you get when the twice-Academy-Award-nominated director of "Capote" and "Moneyball" makes toilet paper commercials?

Masterpieces.

These creative spots for Quilted Northern toilet paper were directed by Bennett Miller, and his approach peers through the unblinking eyes of inanimate objects commonly found in bathrooms everywhere. What do they see? Everything.

WATCH: Maryland man plows snow riding motorized toilet, via @AP

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

RELATED STORIES:

• LIST: 5 of our favorite toilet bowl myths and legends
• HISTORY: Thank you, Seth Wheeler, for inventing perforated toilet paper
• LOOK: China has a waterfall made of toilet bowls. Because of course it does.
• TECH: Bath to the Future? Tomorrow's bathrooms could feature smart fixtures

HISTORY: Thank you, Seth Wheeler, inventor of the perforated toilet-paper roll

Image credit Neptuul via wikipedia

Because we know you've been wondering, it was all Seth's idea.

The concept of rolled and perforated squares of toilet paper was patented in 1883 by Seth Wheeler.

Prior to Seth's innovation, toilet paper was sold commercially as flat sheets starting around 1857 thanks to Joseph Gayetty.

TP is a convenience many Americans take for granted—69% of Americans, according to Toilet Paper World—and much news has been made recently of the incredible shrinking rolls as companies have begun reducing the size of its squares without adjusting their prices.

The annual sales of disposable wipes have surged to a $6 billion industry in recent years, and the problems they have caused to sewer systems has grown as well. That's because disposable wipes should be thrown away rather than flushed: Wipes do not break down in plumbing and sewer systems as toilet paper does.

Much like Seth's invention, wastewater treatment is often taken for granted. And from an agency that treats 90 billion gallons of wastewater every year, we know that both conveniences deserve a tip of the lid every so often.

LIST: Flush or fiction? 5 of our favorite toilet bowl myths and legends

Handy wipes are flushable: False.

They may say flushable on the package. They are common in bathrooms across the country. But because disposable wipes don't break down in the sewer system like toilet paper does, they can clog a home's plumbing and cause major issues in city treatment systems. Throw wipes in the trash rather than the toilet.

A city sewer system failed when the flow surged beyond capacity during a Super Bowl halftime show: False.

It's a legend that resurfaces every January as teams vie for the big game, but legend is all it is. Green Bay Metro Sewer District said even under the most extreme restroom-rush conditions, the likelihood of a major metropolitan sewer system being unable to handle the flow is slim to none.

Toilet water can splash onto your toothbrush: True.

The Discovery Channel's Mythbusters team proved aerosol droplets released from a flushing toilet can be shown to affect surfaces in restrooms. But the test also showed the reaches to which fecal bacteria can be found all throughout the house, something we're well aware of.

RELATED STORIES

• TECH: How do astronauts go to the bathroom in space?
• VIDEO: How does the International Space Station toilet actually work?
• HISTORY: What were bathrooms like in 1776?
• TIPS: 15 things you shouldn't flush (but probably do)

The rotation of the earth changes the direction water flows around a toilet bowl: False.

Does the direction of a toilet bowl's spinning water change depending on the hemisphere you're in? No. The earth's rotation does cause something known as the Coriolis effect, but the force of a flushing drain is, as How Stuff Works explains, "much too great to be influenced by something as miniscule as a single, 360-degree turn over the span of a day."

You should flush old or outdated medications down the toilet rather than just throwing them away: False.

Flushing pharmaceutical products is harmful to our water resources. Wastewater treatment plants are unable to remove these medications from the sewage, which means they end up in our waterways. It's best to drop old and unused medications in safe disposal locations and community collection events so they can be disposed of properly.

WEIRD: Minnesota man faces charges after clogging toilets with pounds of nails

We have an entire list of things people shouldn't flush down the toilet. Looks like we need to add another one to it.

A St. Paul, Minnesota man is being charged with first-degree property damage after he was alleged to have dumped pounds of hardware-store nails down toilets in at least three different locations, causing thousands of dollars in damage.

TECH: How to save your new iPhone 6+ if it falls in the toilet [#waittotweet]

Whether you're waiting in line for Apple's new iPhone 6 or still rocking your Blackberry, this can be useful.

Or better yet, you could just wait to tweet.

HISTORY: What were toilets like in 1776?

Whether America is celebrating its founding fathers or its independence, we ask a question about one item most of us are quite dependent upon today:

What were toilets like in 1776?

To understand the privies of the day, it's best to look at the entire state of sanitation overall in the late 1700s.

At the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolutionary War, sanitation left much to be desired. Disease spread easily, especially among troops in the close quarters of army barracks.

As Edward Park put so plainly:

...eighteenth century troops stank. The citizens of Williamsburg (Virginia) would have smelled pretty ripe, too. It's safe to assume that we would have found the entire Old Dominion—in fact, all thirteen colonies—afflicted with B.O. And since everyone stank, no one noticed it or recorded it for history.

VIDEO: Could this really be 1,000 miles of toilet paper?

Woah that's a lot of toilet paper.



It happened at a soccer match in Belgium.

While we have absolutely no idea how much toilet paper this actually is, let's make a few calculations and take a guess.

Let's say this was one corner of Cleveland Browns' First Energy Stadium, where the seating capacity is just over 78,000. This would be maybe 18,000 seats (again, let's just say).

An average roll of toilet paper holds almost 360 feet of toilet paper. If every one of these 18,000 fans tossed a roll, that would amount to more than 6.5 million feet of TP, or 1,240 miles. All cascading like a two-ply waterfall onto the field.

Not very sustainable, but wow does it look cool.

VIDEO: Watch how a toilet works in outer space. Because science.

ABC Entertainment News | ABC Business News

If you've ever wondered how astronauts go potty in space, here's a video. But don't worry, it's totally SFW.

This NASA clip featured on ABC News shows astronaut Cady Coleman playing with food in a very educational way to help answer one question that so many of us wonder. Using candy chocolate, Cady shows the Space Station toilet's suction, as well as how astronauts dispose of waste when their finished in the facilities.

Based on our previous blog posts, a toilet like this doesn't come cheap, but at least it will get a lot of attention even after its life in orbit is long gone. Fascinating, no?

TECH: Bath to the Future? Gadgets of 2030 could include smart bathroom fixtures

Great scott, this is heavy: The bathroom may become the new frontier of health-meets-household-technology over the next 16 years.

That's the prediction of Forum, one UK nonprofit which recently envisioned what kind of products consumers will yearn for in the year 2030.

Several of the concepts shared by Fast Company include a health-monitoring toilet and a touch-screen mirror that displays your current vital statistics.

TIPS: Your bowl is not super. #FlushResponsibly

One brew company estimated 50 million cases of beer are consumed on Super Bowl Sunday, resulting in 1.4 billion trips to the bathroom.

With that many potty breaks, chances are that there's more being flushed down the toilets than fluids and good ol' TP.

We hope everyone celebrates today's football festivities responsibly, and we also encourage you to flush responsibly: That means not using your toilet as a trash can.

Garbage like napkins, paper towels, disposable wipes, wrappers and so much more can cause plumbing problems and even wreak havoc farther down the line in community sewers. Dispose of trash in the can and help save sewers and your own drains from potential problems.

FLUSH: China has a waterfall made of toilet bowls. Of course it does.

We've seen toilet bowls turned into planters, tricycles, and bathroom mirrors, but in China, hundreds of recycled toilet bowls have been turned into a waterfall.



The construction of it looks amazing, and it's all operated by a single flush.

We see this as a great education opportunity to teach about the urban water cycle: The water that fills these hundreds of bowls flows down and through and back up to the top to be flushed again.

CRAFTS: Crochet a miniature toilet, because well c'mon look at it, it's adorable.

A holiday lunch at our Administration offices ended with one of our managers receiving a crocheted mini toilet, handmade by one of our colleagues, Marina.

Um yes please. #Adorable #Weird, #ButAdorable pic.twitter.com/mfVtPR9E0M
— Spokesdrop, NEORSD (@wallywaterdrop) December 14, 2013

We think Marina made it without a pattern, which makes us love it even more, but if you by chance are interested in creating your own, we found this one by Kim Lapsley with step-by-step photos and instructions.

Cute stocking stuffer, no? Now if only we could find a water treatment plant made out of Legos...

EVENT: World Toilet Day. (Yes, it's for real. Yes, it's important.)

November 19 is World Toilet Day. How might you celebrate?

WTD calls attention to the 2.5 billion people around the world lack access to proper sanitation.

If you're following this blog, or our Twitter streams or our Facebook page, you know we have no problem with clean potty humor or more serious discussions about the water cycle or wastewater treatment. But WTD is about more than that.

RELATED NEWS: Common diseases associated with sanitation, via UNICEF

As its mission statement points out, "World Toilet Day is not just about toilet humor, or an attempt to make toilets sexy. World Toilet Day has a serious purpose: it aims to stimulate dialogue about sanitation and break the taboo that still surrounds this issue. In addition, it supports advocacy that highlights the profound impact of the sanitation crisis in a rigorous manner, and seeks to bring to the forefront the health and emotional consequences, as well as the economic impact of inadequate sanitation."

The Sewer District has been in the clean-water business since 1972 where we have helped reduce pollution and bring a nearly dead river and damaged Great Lake back to life. Combine that with a 25-year program to reduce bacteria in Lake Erie and all sorts of infrastructure work, it makes sense that we would support World Toilet Day to bring appreciation to the clean-water and sanitation access we enjoy—while billions of people suffer without it.

top photo credit: Corey Ann via photopin cc | bottom image credit: NEORSD

TECH: If your toilet is controlled by a smart phone, it can be hacked. You've been warned.

Before we share this story, if you are a the owner of a smart toilet, you might want to sit down. Just not on the toilet.

It has been revealed that a "security flaw" in the high-tech Satis toilet—a commode capable of being controlled by your smart phone—means the toilet can be hacked.

Is nothing sacred?

It's true, this smart toilet capable of being flushed, releasing air freshener, or raising and lowering the lid from your cell phone has a vulnerability that makes it susceptible to hackers. Hackers who might want to flush it repeatedly just to raise your water bill behind your back. Or under your... other places.

While we at the Sewer District can't secure your toilet, we are committed to protecting the sewer system it's connected to. Three wastewater treatment plants and 300 miles of sewers manage your flow every day, and we take their security and that responsibility very seriously.

But if you do own a Satis, you might want to change your password just in case.

NEWS: With a Great Lake comes great responsibility. #FlushResponsibly

It's important to drink responsibly. From our perspective, your actions following your beverages of choice are just as important.

We're proud to support the Burning River Foundation's Burning River Fest and its focus on sustainability this Friday and Saturday, and we thought it was the perfect opportunity to spread the message of responsible flushing. Our work protects Lake Erie, and what goes down your toilet and drains matters.

Taps and toilets tend to go hand-in-hand, and we hope you can help us raise awareness of clean water and personal responsibility before, during, and after you raise a glass of your favorite beverages.

Share your favorite #FlushResponsibly message below.

Take it seriously.

We take our clean-water responsibilities seriously. We encourage you to do the same. #FlushResponsibly.

TIPS: 15 things you shouldn't flush

Just because it can fit in your toilet doesn't mean it's flushable.

VIDEO: Uh, "President" says #DontFlushWipes

Flushable wipes are in the news lately, but they are just one of many items that can cause plumbing problems, or even larger wastewater treatment issues in many cities.

Whether at your own home or at a public restroom, you might want to keep this list in mind: Here are 15 items most commonly discarded in toilets that shouldn't be. They may cause problems in home plumbing systems, on your property, in the miles of sewer underground, or all the way at a treatment plant. It's best to pitch all of these items in the garbage.

 

RELATED STORIES:

•  #FlushResponsibly: With a Great Lake comes great responsibility. #FlushResponsibly.
•  NEWS: Consumer Reports confirms flushable wipes still aren't flushable
•  FLUSH OR FICTION? Top 5 toilet-related myths and legends
• #PitchThosePills: Why you should not flush old medications (and how to get rid of them the right way)