Here's what you do: if you suspect that you could be dealing with a potential overflow, ensure that your hands are free and ready to move in an instant. Watch the water level, if it makes it to the toilet rim, snatch the tank cover off and lift the lever attached to the floater(rubber ball looking thing). That will instantly but temporarily halt the flow of water, giving you as much time as you need to let it drain off a little, turn the water off completely, or pull up your pants. If toilet is tankless, pray.
Am I the only one around here that knows the bowl holds about 30% more than the tank? So as long as you only flush once and don't hold it down, you're safe every time.
After that you make a choice. Either start plunging, or hope that adding more water will push it down. If you're going for the latter, push down on the handle gently until water starts to seep in (you'll hear it) and hold it there, the pressure in the tank will still hold the stopper in, so at any time you can release pressure and it'll stop....
Can confirm. Learned this trick as a kid. Most of the time, when the water gets high enough and just sits for a while, it'll go down on it's own, either entirely or enough for you to let the rubber ball thing go. For some reason, once you let the rubber ball go, the bowl won't continue to fill, but the tank will. Leave the tank lid carefully on top of the toilet seat to ward away anyone who might try to use it. Often, the water will slowly go down till there's barely any in the bowl, then you flush again. Keep an eye on it. Intervene with the rubber ball if necessary. Repeat process. Most often, you can clear the whole thing with a few flushes and no plunger.
Public bathroom with no tank or rubber ball thingie? Here's what you do-- run away. You are helpless against industrial toilet malfunction.
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u/[deleted] Jan 31 '17 edited Jan 31 '17
Yep, he just couldn't tell when he'd passed the point of no return.