I have writers blockage…

I was sat looking for some inspiration for my next story, when I realised I had unfinished business from my very first blog http://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise-blogs/allaboardwithadrian/i-cant-wait-to-go/?affref=adrianp about the problem of blocked toilets on ships.

I know for people new to cruise that the vacuum flushing toilet may be something only ever seen on a plane. But ships also have them, behind the scenes are a labyrinth of pipes tubes and cables that should be flexible as the ship is a moving vessel and in rough seas the whole ship can move a lot. This could cause damage to the pipes if they were fixed and solid therefore creating floods inside the ship. Nobody wants that, do they? Therefore Vacuums work best at sea, when they work.

However….. Now to open a real can of worms what causes a blockage. I have plumber friends on ships and engineers who deal with a daily problem that can only be caused by passengers. Items found on the above list have all been found in the flexible pipes. Toothpicks, nail clippings, kitchen roll, sanitary products, tea bags, plastic bags, as well as parts from electric toothbrushes, or electric razors. These are some of the findings from my experiences chatting with crew.

Passengers don’t like the toilet paper on the ship as it is thin. I can understand that as its not triple ply ultra-soft toilet tissue. But the ships toilet paper breaks down easily and doesn’t cause blockages. I cannot understand why passengers imagine the triple ply they have smuggled on board is OK. Please don’t do it! The men in boiler suits in corridors with their hands in a pipe are clearing an unwanted blockage. This can back up half the vessel or just part of a deck. It is usually formal night and the phone to the purser’s office is ringing off the hook to get the toilets to empty. I hope you can imagine now why it is so important to use the bins provided for other items.

The notices on the back of the toilets say;

‘No foreign objects’

‘Please flush only toilet paper and what nature provides’

‘Warning, this ship is fitted with a vacuum flushing system and the seat and cover must be down before flushing’

My personal favourite ‘No large deposits’

One of my colleagues said that the only way to solve the problem of blocked pipes would be to have mandatory DNA test as people board the ship. That way the ship could trace who the offending items came from and name and shame or fine the cabin responsible to stop people blocking the ships toilets. He was one of the men in boiler suits with his hands literally into everything. Extreme I know but what do you think? Have you had a flood or blocked toilet? Let me know your thoughts, or even better let me know if you have any ideas of other ways of preventing these rising issues.