Many cats are endlessly fascinated with the common flush toilet (variously known as the commode, the water closet or “WC”, the loo, and so forth). Perhaps this is because cats like the sight and sound of running water, or prefer to drink cold water. Some cats also like drinking from, or playing with, water faucets, fountains, or even shower heads.
Some cats have figured out, or been taught, how to flush a toilet with their paws. While marathon toilet-flushing can be immensely entertaining for the cat, this activity can also lead to an unexpectedly high water bill for the cat’s human companions – especially where water is expensive or in short supply.
When human beings see cats (or other animals) drinking from the toilet, the humans’ first thought is usually “Ewwwww!” It is no wonder that the term toilet water (which actually means a mildly diluted fragrance solution) is seen less and often in American advertising.
But then, those same humans are happy to drink water, soft drinks, or iced tea from fast food restaurants without a second thought. It turns out that the cats may be smarter than we thought…
(h/t: Guggi)
Student finds toilet water cleaner than ice at fast food restaurants
New Tampa, Florida – 12-year-old Jasmine Roberts is a seventh-grade student at Benito Middle School in New Tampa.
When it came time for her to choose a science project, she wondered about the ice in fast food restaurants.
Jasmine Roberts, 7th-grade student:
“My hypothesis was that the fast food restaurants’ ice would contain more bacteria that the fast food restaurants’ toilet water.”
So Roberts set out to test her hypothesis, selecting five fast food restaurants, within a ten-mile radius of the University of South Florida.
Roberts says at each restaurant she flushed the toilet once, the used sterile gloves to gather samples.
Jasmine Roberts:
“Using the sterile beaker I scooped up some water and closed the lid.”
Roberts also collected ice from soda fountains inside the five fast food restaurants. She also asked for cups of ice at the same restaurant’s drive thru windows.
She tested the samples at a lab at the Moffitt Cancer Center where she volunteers with a USF professor. Roberts says the results did not surprise her.
Jasmine Roberts:
“I found that 70-percent of the time, the ice from the fast food restaurant’s contain more bacteria than the fast food restaurant’s toilet water.”
Roberts’ graph shows the toilet water, shown in red, had less bacteria in most cases than the ice inside shown in blue, and the ice from drive-through windows shown in green. Roberts’ teacher says he wasn’t surprised either.
Mark Danish, Honors Science Teacher:
“It does concern me and I think with any restaurant you have to think twice about what you may get there.”
Read the rest.
