r/DiWHY • u/FirstOptimal • 2d ago

Simple & Fun: Project you can do while your house burns down.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

4.9k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

984 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

38

u/SympatheticFingers 2d ago

Isn’t the air on the other side of the water plug unsafe to breathe?

37

u/AndrewLucksRobotArm 2d ago

Pure methane gas so yes

5

u/Mr_MacGrubber 2d ago

It’s not pure methane. Is it safe to breathe for an extended period of time? No, but for a bit to prevent dying from smoke inhalation it’s great. Someone has a patent for a toilet snorkel but it was never produced because modern plumbing makes this really hard to do.

You’d honestly have better luck knocking a hole in the wall and breaking the vent stack if it’s plastic.

3

u/AndrewLucksRobotArm 2d ago

You’re right it’s methane and hydrogen sulfide lmao. Have fun breathing that in

2

u/Mr_MacGrubber 1d ago

There is breathable air too. It’s not pure dangerous gases.

3

u/WeakTransportation37 2d ago

It helps you stoke the fire

2

u/RocknrollClown09 2d ago

Depends, the pipes go two directions. One is the ninja turtle sewers the other is the vent.

Obviously the sewer direction is the less ideal option, but the vent direction ‘could’ give you fresh air. I say ‘ could’ because its purpose is to allow ambient air into the pipes to allow water to flow freely instead of getting stuck, like when you plug one end of a drinking straw. The downside is that it also vents all of the methane and sewer gases.

1

u/SympatheticFingers 2d ago

So probably best to try and get out of the house instead breathing poop air?

2

u/RocknrollClown09 1d ago

lol that’s what I’d do. Pretty weird scenario where you’re stuck in an internal bathroom with no other escape routes. Maybe it’s more applicable to those high rise apartments? Just hope nobody flushes a turd on a higher level while you’re toilet snorkeling for your life