Study Shows How High Particles from Toilet Bowl Can Go Up When You Don’t Close the Lid

By
Isaac Goh
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Would you be creeped out if you threw rubbish into a rubbish bin and the trash just popped out immediately after? You would, right?

Similarly, it’s disgusting when the contents of our toilet bowls jump out.

New studies have proven that flushing a toilet bowl without the lid on causes that effect. 

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Study Shows How High Particles from Toilet Bowl Can Go Up When You Don’t Close the Lid

You’d expect the waste to go down the bowl when you flush the toilet, not out.

Well, engineers from the University of Colorado Boulder have conducted a study on the flushing of toilet bowls and found that particles come up when the lids are closed. 

They visualised said particles in the study by “using laser light to illuminate the ejected aerosols.” 

Simply put, they lit up the toilet water. 

“The toilet flush produces a strong chaotic jet with velocities exceeding two m/s; this jet transports aerosols to heights reaching 1.5 m within 8 seconds of initiating a flush,” they revealed. 

Lead author of the study John Crimaldi also added: “If it’s something you can’t see, it’s easy to pretend it doesn’t exist. But once you see these videos, you’re never going to think about a toilet flush the same way again.” 

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Most of us are probably guilty of this. 

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So What? 

So what if the particles can fly? 

The filthy bowl water carries bacteria. Besides the fact that it contains faeces and urine, it can transmit diseases, including COVID-19, influenza, and norovirus. 

I’m sure we’re all disgusted. 

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This research paved the way for future studies on waste management and sanitary procedures. 

The study “provides a foundation for future design strategies to mitigate plume formation to disinfect pathogens within it.” 

Crimaldi has clarified that the study was done by physicists and engineers to show the physics behind the mechanism and was in no way providing health advice.

In the future, he hopes that other parties can take care of the project and take action to reduce this occurrence. 

Before this, the lid was only used to contain the nasty smell of our waste.

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But now, I think it’ll be used more often. 

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Featured Image: University of Colorado Boulder

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Isaac Goh
Email: [email protected]