Everyone saw the level of the Xindian river during the last typhoon right? Well last night I went jogging along the riverbanks and most of the way the shit smell was out of this world.
Fortunately, the walkways were lit enough to see that the weird, slimy things I kept stepping on were dead fishes and nothing else.
THats not shit that’s rotten vegetation , happens after flooding, massive piles of mud everywhere along the riverside.
I know the smell of rotten vegetation, what I smelled was caca for sure.
according to this girl, you can’t flush toilet paper down the toilet in Korea either.
Does anyone elses apartment leases state that you can not flush toilet paper down the toilets?
Do anyone really fulfill that practice or just end up forfeiting their apartment deposits, which is like 2 months rent?
RE the ‘‘Flush toilet paper’’ issue, or tissue. As a poster here said in 2008 “Dealing with paper bins of your own sh*t is such a disgusting weird habit, and the Taiwan government have admitted that the countries plumbing can handle it just fine (They just don’t want to deal with the fact raw sewage is being flushed in the rivers).”
BUT now the ‘’[Taiwan] Post’’ newspaper in an unsigned editorial says its time in 2014 to dump the toilet paper rule and flush it down the toilet. text here: titled ‘‘MAKE flushing toilet paper a universal hygienic practice’’
chinapost.com.tw/editorial/taiwa … ushing.htm
excerpt: probably written by a Taiwanese or Hong Kong staff editor at the Post:
The EPA’s position is also disputed by politicians such as Taipei councilwoman Chien Yu-yen, who in 2007 hosted a high-profile forum arguing that Taiwan-produced toilet paper is easily dissolvable, and furthermore, that Taiwan’s sewage systems will not suffer blockages as a result of toilet paper.
An inescapable fact is that the sight of soiled pieces of used toilet paper is psychologically disturbing. Despite the best efforts of cleaning personnel, flushing toilet paper is the only immediate means of disposal. Waiting a few hours for routine cleanup increases the risk of infection for obvious reasons. The Sochi expose has also shown that rightly or not, throwing tissue paper in a bin is widely seen as something outlandishly backwards by mainstream international media.
Understanding that flushing toilet paper down the drain is an international norm in advanced and respected countries will spare Taiwan embarrassment in the eyes of countries such as the U.S., Japan and others. Wyshynski was reminded on Twitter that in many countries people do not flush their toilet paper. Yet Taiwan, a nation that makes its toilets a key item of evidence for its “happiness,” should do more to improve toilet hygiene. Even if one accepts the EPA’s argument, the agency seems to be merely responding to a situation instead of leading Taiwan to change. The government should make its stance on the question of the destination of used toilet paper known and start moving toward improvement.
Which brings to mind: if its time to get rid of the old toilet paper rule, what other quaint rules should be
flushed here, too?
Such as no more burning of ghost money outside twice a money fouling the air with cancer-causing pollution? or no more early morning 5 am funerals outside with crying women at 6 am and loud trumpets, waking everyone up in the area? Or…what other RULES like this that are part of Taiwan would you ask the newspaper editor to weigh in on?
make a list, don’t twist…
ref: 2008 post from aphasiac here said :
taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/ … 2003416999
As I know it in Taipei and Kaoshuing you can flush toilet paper, but not in Taoyuan (saw a sign at the airport not to do it). So was wondering what other areas have not have updated sewer systems?
I’ve always done it.
I hate it when I step in a toilet booth and a brown turd smeared tissue is looking back at me from a bin.
i flush it on porpoise so the powers that be fix the sewers.
even though they are dolphins.
It’s 2015, and we are living in a country that ranks between roughly 15 and 45 on the international surveys that matter. Clearly, there is an appropriate sewage and waste disposal system in place that is capable of handling our unmentionables.
Flush away, good man. I’ve been doing so since 2005 with nary a problem. The missus is gainfully employed in the field, and I do so with her full knowledge and consent.
This. 100% this.
[quote=“urodacus”]i flush it on porpoise so the powers that be fix the sewers.
even though they are dolphins.[/quote]
I often wonder how much dye you’d need to flush down the toilet before the river turns red (or blue, green, or purple depending on your mood).
Could be pretty I think.
And the dolphins got tired of fixing the sewers. They’ve all moved to Hollywood now.
[quote=“amarbaines”]It’s 2015, and we are living in a country that ranks between roughly 15 and 45 on the international surveys that matter. Clearly, there is an appropriate sewage and waste disposal system in place that is capable of handling our unmentionables.
[/quote]
Actually there isn’t - 82% of Taiwanese sewage gets flushed untreated into rivers. The government tells people not to flush because huge slicks of paper floating in the waterways would be messy, difficult to clean up and would create a disgusting sight for the general public (raw sh*t mixes with river water so is easier to hide).
taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/ … 2003416999
Edit: Actually this story is from 2008; it would be nice to know which areas of Taiwan have proper sewage treatment systems now, and therefore can handle paper flushing. I guess this is what the OP was asking, must be some information on this somehwhere?
[quote=“aphasiac”][quote=“amarbaines”]It’s 2015, and we are living in a country that ranks between roughly 15 and 45 on the international surveys that matter. Clearly, there is an appropriate sewage and waste disposal system in place that is capable of handling our unmentionables.
[/quote]
Actually there isn’t - 82% of Taiwanese sewage gets flushed untreated into rivers. The government tells people not to flush because huge slicks of paper floating in the waterways would be messy, difficult to clean up and would create a disgusting sight for the general public (raw sh*t mixes with river water so is easier to hide).
taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/ … 2003416999
Edit: Actually this story is from 2008; it would be nice to know which areas of Taiwan have proper sewage treatment systems now, and therefore can handle paper flushing. I guess this is what the OP was asking, must be some information on this somehwhere?[/quote]
Well, I certainly stepped in it. Thank you for the odoriferous clarification. So the onus is on residents and citizens themselves to exchange one health hazard for another. Government in this case has utterly failed the taxpayer. But isn’t most toilet paper designed to disintegrate in water? It is of a consistency markedly different from that of paper towels.
The following may be of assistance (though both date from 2010)
web.epa.gov.tw/en/epashow.aspx?l … lang=en-us
globalwaterintel.com/pinsent … /part2/31/
And a casual search will reveal that this has been a topic of previous discussion on the flob:
forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … 89&t=60772
forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … lit=sewage
forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … lit=sewage
2015 and we are still swimming in shit. Lovely.
What I want to know:
Why, if told, can the Taiwanese not flush tissue, yet also not obey traffic laws?
[quote=“TheGingerMan”]What I want to know:
Why, if told, can the Taiwanese not flush tissue, yet also not obey traffic laws?
[/quote]
You mean:“Traffic suggestions” ?
You’re right; the majority of public restrooms I’ve used in Taoyuan have a sign about not flushing the paper.
However, in my seven years here, I can’t recall ever seeing this done in private residences. It seems that the locals in their own homes flush their paper, or at least that’s been my observation when using the facilities in a Taiwanese home. Has anyone else found this to be true?
In any case, I’ve always flushed mine.
After further conferral with the missus, 90% of the city of Taipei is connected to some sort of a sewage system. The caveat being that the data is inconsistent and spotty, so make of it what you will. However, once you leave civilization, err, umm, I mean Taipei, coverage falls off dramatically.
[quote=“aphasiac”]…
Actually there isn’t - 82% of Taiwanese sewage gets flushed untreated into rivers. The government tells people not to flush because huge slicks of paper floating in the waterways would be messy, difficult to clean up and would create a disgusting sight for the general public (raw sh*t mixes with river water so is easier to hide).
…[/quote]
I would be more concerned about what’s floating downriver after heavy rain or a typhoon, sofas, fridges, washing machines, garbage bags … you name it and it floats, it’s there. :ohreally: