What to Do When You Flush the Toilet and the Water Start Rising

Did you just flush your toilet and its starts overflowing now you are looking for what to do when you flush the toilet and water starts rising? Well, you are in the right place.

When you flush the toilet and water start rising, it means that something you flushed down the toilet has blocked your drain pipes thereby preventing the passage of water and other flushed particles in the toilet, hence causing the water to rise or overflow instead of going down the sewage system. Therefore, a quick solution to this is the use of a plunger to clear the blockade and the rising water will stop.

I’ve seen different people complaining every day that sometimes their toilet water will start rising anytime they flush the toilet. Some said that after a while, the water will go down. However, these people did not know that they are 100% the cause of the problem.

If there is a blockade on the toilet drain pipe, it will prevent the smooth passage of other things you flushed down the toilet. The blockage may continue to build up until it finally blocks it and that’s when you’ll start seeing the water rise as you flush. There is a quick solution to this and a better way to prevent it. All of this will be detailed in this article.

Why Does Water Rise When You Flush the Toilet?

The reason toilet water starts rising when you flush the toilet is as a result of a blockage in the toilet. It means that there is something in the drain pipes that are blocking the smooth passage of flushed materials in your toilet. As the water could not pass through, it will start rising until the water from the toilet storage tank is empty.

Like I said earlier, the major reason why this happens is that people always flush things they are not supposed to flush down the toilet. The only permitted and safest things to flush down the toilet are toilet paper and bodily waste and fluid. These are the two things that can be flushed down the toilet. Other things should not be flushed down the toilet to avoid blocking the sewage way.

When people flush things other than these two things, it may get stuck on the drain pipes, grabbing other things you keep flushing down the toilet. The more it grabs onto all those things, the more it keeps narrowing down the passage of particles to the septic. It will continue to grab them until they finally block the pipes cause the water to rise when you flush.

For example, most people always flush condoms down the toilet even though it’s has been noted several times that condoms should not be flushed down the toilet.

What the latex condoms will do is that they will get stuck in the drain pipes. Because they don’t dissolve like toilet paper, anytime you flush other things other than toilet paper, it may continue to grab them.

Peradventure the next night and the upper night, you also did it (you know what you do with condoms) and flushed more condoms down the toilet, it will grab them. As it keeps grabbing the condoms and other things that don’t dissolve easily flushed down the toilet, it will narrow down the passage until it finally blocks it.

The reason why I use condoms as an example is because people are found of flushing condoms down their toilet anytime they finish having s*x. Apart from condoms, napkins and paper towels are prohibited from being flushed down the toilet. Please take note of all that as that is the best way to prevent water from rising when you flush your toilet.

Things to Do When You Flush the Toilet and Water Start Rising

Here are the things you need to do when you flush your toilet and water start rising:

• If you flush the toilet and water starts rising, the first thing you need to do is to shut off the water supply to the toilet storage tank. You can do that by locating the turn-off button at the side of your toilet seat.
• The next thing to do to ensure that the toilet water risings stop is to turn off the pipe that supplies water to the bathroom/toilet. This will ensure that there won’t be more water coming inside the toilet as you rectify the problem.
• If you cannot find a place to turn off the water supply to the bathroom/toilet, then you turn off the pipe that supplies water to the whole house or apartment so you can be able to do the work comfortably. This is for safety purposes.
• However, in most cases, the toilet water rising usually stops when you turn off the water. If it did stop, then you may need to call for the services of a licensed plumber to come and rectify the issue or follow the procedure written below in the article. But if after shutting the water supply off and the water continues to rise, then follow the next procedure.
• This is when you get your plunger and use it to loosen up whatever that is preventing the water from passing through the drain pipes. If you don’t have a plunger, you can borrow it from a friend or neighbor. Besides every household should have a plunger in their toilet. It is a very important tool for emergence. It is like first aid.
• Ensure that your hand glove is on. You don’t want to be putting your hands into the toilet water. Get a hand glove and put it on. Well, if you don’t have, you can ask a friend or neighbor, or quickly go out to buy.
• You may also need to remove some water from the toilet bowl before using the plunger so that water will not splash on you anytime you give the plunger some pressure. This is very important. If the water on the toilet bowl is too much, you may need to reduce it but if it’s not, you can ignore it.
• If you have pieces of cloths or towel, anything that can absorb water, get it and spread it around the toilet. This is to prevent dirty water from the toilet bowl from touch your toilet floor. The cloth will absorb them when it happens.
• Grab the plunger and extend it into the toilet drain hole until it tightens up. Now, start plunging. Apply some force. The force from the plunger will help break down whatever is blocking the drain pipe and push them down the septic tank until the pipe is free again. Then the water will quickly go down.

However, if the plunger did not remove the blockade, It shows how serious the problem is and more reason you should be mindful of the things you flush down the toilet.

• If the problem persists, then get a toilet auger popularly known as toilet snake. It cost around $50. You can ask friends and neighbors if they have it or simply hire it for the work. The toilet snake is made to go down the pipes irrespective of the pipes’ bends and curves, hence the name snake that is attached to it.
• Place the hook of the toilet snake into the toilet bowl, keep pushing it down until it won’t go again. When that happens, it shows that it has touched the blockade hence could not pass through anymore.
• Now, gently pull or draw the toilet auger back, if you feel any resistance after drawing it, congratulations, you’ve grabbed whatever is clogging the toilet and preventing the passage of other things.
• The next thing to do is to start cranking counterclockwise to pull the toilet auger out of the toilet. When it does pull out, it will carry the particles that blocked the toilet along with it. Place the blockade into a bucket and keep repeating the process until the toilet drain pipes are free or until it won’t hold onto anything again.
• Now that the clogging is rectified, you can turn on the water again so that you can see the water to flush the toilet. When the water is on, flush the toilet to verify that the water is not rising anymore. It’s important to verify the work you’ve done before returning the snake.
• You can trash those things pulled out of the toilet or flush them back to the toilet, this time in small particles so it won’t block it again. I will suggest you trash it, especially if the things blocking the toilet are latex condoms you flushed down since you’ve been living in that apartment, or since you started having s*x in that apartment.
• The last thing to do here is to clean up everything with warm water and soap. Take your bath and rest.

However, if after doing all these and the problem persists, you have landed yourself into something that may cost you a lot to rectify. The best thing to do in this case is to call a professional licensed plumber to come to trace the problem and rectify it. Doing this will cost you money especially if you will need to buy something to be used in the working plus the money you will pay the plumber.

How to Prevent Water from Rising When You Flush the Toilet

The best way to prevent getting your toilet clogged that water starts to rise and go down when you flush the toilet is to be mindful of what you flush down your toilet. Stop flushing anything that is not toilet paper and body waster/fluid down the toilet to help preserve your toilet drain pipes and avoid any possible blockage that can make the water rise and go down when you flush the toilet.

Final Thoughts

The mistake that we make most times is doing what we are not supposed to do. The reason why your toilet water keeps rising anytime you flush something down the toilet is because the toilet drain hole is clogged. Something you previously flushed down the toilet has blocked it. It could be condoms you flushed down your toilet a month or three months ago that got the pipes clogged or hairs you flushed down the toilet. Use a plunger or a toilet auger to rectify the problem and ensure it doesn’t happen again; and if the problem persists, please call a licensed plumber to rectify it.