Can you flush paper in Lithuania?

The answer is of course: Yes, you can. Whether it is advisable on the other hand, is a different matter. There are at least no shortage of signs in public toilets warning people against flushing paper:




A common sight in Lithuanian public restrooms 

 

 

The reason for this remains a mystery to me. Even though blocked sewage obviously is a recurring problem in Lithuania, I still struggle to identify the actual reason. Locals usually give a variety of different explanations to this phenomenon:

 

-          The toilets are not powerful enough to flush the paper thoroughly (hard to believe in the case of toilets on the 10^th floor, with gravity on their side)

-          The pipes are not big enough for the paper to pass through (seems hard to believe, since 10 cm pipe is the standard going out from the toilet, just like in the west)

-          Toilet paper upsets the biological processes in the septic tank (the bacteria in my Norwegian septic tank seem to be oblivious to this fact, since they are handling the situation rather well)

-          The pipes in the ground are laid at such a small angle because of the flat terrain that they clog easily (so, how do they solve this in Holland?)

 

Needless to say, I don`t believe that any one of these factors alone can explain the situation. It is perhaps some kind of combination of circumstances.

 

Even Polish and Russians need a reminer

So what to do? To be on the safe side, I would follow the example of the locals – use the bin and pack your own roll of toilet paper when going out. Or simply don`t go at all.

 




Use the bin. That way, they "don`t have shit on you"!