If you have one or more dogs, you know how much they can poop. Dog poop is messy, smells, and it can fill up your yard quickly. This is a problem anytime, but especially when the weather is nice and you want to run around in the yard, barefoot or otherwise. You pick it up with dog poop bags, but what to do with the dog poop after you have picked it up? A lot of people simply throw it into the trash. But again, when the weather is warm, this can be rather stinky.
So can you flush dog poop down the toilet? Even though there are a few ways that you can dispose of it, being able to flush it down your toilet seems a lot more convenient. A lot of dog owners believe that since they are able to flush their own feces down their toilet, a dog’s feces shouldn’t be any different.
If you own a dog and you are thinking about disposing of your dog poop this way, there are some things that you should know.
Can You Safely Flush Dog Poop?
Sewer Water
When poop is flushed down your toilet, it ends up in the local sewer treatment facility. Here, most of the pollutants are removed before it goes into the river or stream.
Flushing your dog’s poop in your toilet isn’t going to harm the person who uses that toilet immediately after it’s flushed. It also isn’t going to cause any severe pollution of rivers or streams.
That being said, you should talk with the treatment center to make sure they’re able to deal with the pathogens that pet waste often contains. Dog waste can contain ToxocaraCanis, or roundworm eggs, and not every waste facility is equipped to handle that.
Septic Tank
If you are living in a house that is serviced by a septic tank, you shouldn’t flush dog poop. Unlike human feces, dog feces can contain grasses, a lot of hair, and rawhide. These are all things that can clog the drain field of your septic system and can cause clogs in your toilet. So, if you have a septic tank, you want to avoid flushing the dog poop down it. Otherwise, you may find that you have a lot more problems than poop to deal with.
So, what is the verdict? Can dog poop be flushed down your toilet? The answer is that it depends. Do you have city water treated by a sewage plant? Yes, as long as you confirm that they can deal with any pathogens that are in the dog’s poop.
If you have a septic tank, it’s best to throw your dog poop out. Otherwise, you may have a very expensive septic problem to deal with, or, at least, a clogged toilet. No amount of convenience of being able to flush your dog’s poop is worth that.
What About Cat Poop?
Flushing cat poop down the toilet is a very different situation. Learn more here.
