Toilets and Problems: Inside info for travelers in ancient towns
Tourists from countries like the USA, where modern infrastructures are taken for granted, often love to visit ancient cities where the architecture, culture, art, and people have an ancient place in the world, and where visitors can feel transformed by the influence of antiquity. But some are shocked to find that the convenience they are accustomed to at home is not always available in these old cities. Somehow they assume that some things – like modern plumbing – have been around forever, and are around in every part of the world, today. But it’s just not so, and for people who have become accustomed to a kind of isolated view of the rest of the world, the absence of little comforts can be rather inconvenient, uncomfortable, and unnerving.
If you travel to an old city or country, don’t be surprised if the management of your hotel, restaurant, or guest house posts a sign telling you not to use toilet paper, for example. Or to use it but dispose of it in a trash can, and not flush it down the toilet. Although this strikes some tourists as horrifying, they are even more horrified to encounter a flooded, overflowing toilet, and the reason most toilets overflow in any country, modern or not, is due to blockage of the pipes. The problem with old plumbing systems is that the old pipes are smaller than modern plumbing, so they are not able to handle paper. It gets stuck and causes the plumbing to back up, and this is a problem that can be very difficult to fix, because the pipes are too small to easily clean out with plumbing tools.
So if you travel to a place with old buildings and old plumbing, keep in mind that the strange rules about flushing – or not – have a practical basis meant to prevent worse problems.