Ever Wondered What Actually Happens When You Flush A Toilet On An Airplane?

When the urge strikes, even at 37,000 feet in the sky, nature calls and you answer. It's a situation we rarely ponder, especially when a pressing need arises.

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But have you ever taken a moment to contemplate the mechanics of using the restroom on an airplane? For all you frequent travelers, here's a comprehensive breakdown of what exactly occurs when you make a visit to the aircraft's toilet.

Contrary to what most people believe, waste is not usually thrown down onto unsuspecting people below.

Instead, everything is flushed away using a plumbing system that carries any waste to specialized sealed compartments at the rear of the aircraft.

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According to pilot and TikTok influencer Garrett Ray, this process can occur around a thousand times on a Boeing 747 during a long-distance flight – which might explain the consistent lines for the restroom.

If you're still curious about what happens when you need to use the restroom during a flight, the US pilot also disclosed that over the duration of the flight, more than 1,211 liters (320 gallons) of waste can be produced.

Upon reaching your final destination, the waste is meticulously suctioned from the plane through a pipe connected to a port.

Airport personnel usually handle this task, often before the aircraft is prepared for its next flight.

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However, it's important to acknowledge that there are instances where things don't always go as planned with dealing with waste at high altitudes.

Did you know there's a strange thing called 'blue ice' that can happen on some flights?

It's called 'blue ice' because of the disinfectant used in the plane. This happens when frozen waste leaks out of the plane, usually from a specific spot.

This leaking waste then falls down on people below when it gets too heavy. (Ew!)

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Nowadays, modern vacuum toilets have made this very rare, but there have been times when chunks of frozen blue waste have hit people.

Imagine a British man who ended up covered in this stuff when he went into his garden in Windsor.

And to make it worse, this happened just as the UK was starting to get back to normal in 2021. Reports said it covered his whole garden, even the garden umbrellas, and him!

What a really bad day, right?

Later, at a meeting, a councilor named Geoff Paxton said that these kinds of things almost never happen.

Having worked at various airports for over 40 years, he told attendees: "We used to have problems with blue ice frozen human waste and disinfectant on arrivals but that was because those toilets used to leak."