Quick Batman: get me a PooZooka
Toronto condo owners forced to share a plunger after new efficent toilets installed
blog TO
By Lauren O'Neil 22 June 2020
Imagine having a new toilet installed in your condo, against your wishes, in the middle of a pandemic, and then having that toilet (and every other toilet on your floor) overflow regularly.
Then, imagine that condo management — who insisted on sending random workers into your home during a state of emergency — says you aren't allowed to use your own plunger to unclog the fixture.
Instead, you have to go down your building's front desk and trade in your ID for something called a "PooZooka" — a commercial-quality plunger of which there is only one for everybody to share.
This is reality for residents of at least one building in Toronto's densely-packed CityPlace neighbourhood, according to unhappy condo dwellers.
Welcome to ShittyPlace.
"CityPlace condos are having this strange situation where management replaced the toilets with efficient toilets. Whatever type they selected, residents immediately noticed that they got backed up much more frequently," said one resident of 8 Telegram Mews.
"The condo board then emailed us to let us know that a regular plunger doesn't work — you have to go to the front desk security person to exchange your ID to get a communal building-wide 'poozooka' plunger (can't buy your own)."
Emails from the management of CityPlace's Luna Vista complex verify that these claims are, sadly, not a joke.
"TO ALL RESIDENTS, PLEASE DO NOT THROW ANY ITEM IN THE TOILET EXCEPT TOILET PAPER IN THE NEW TOILET AND IN CASE TOILET GET BLOCKED," reads an email sent to residents on June 18.
"DO NOT USE THE REGULAR PLUNGER TO UNCLOGGED NEW TOILETS," the email continues. "USE ONLY PooZooka. BORROW ONE FROM THE SECURITY! SECURITY WILL KEEP YOUR ID AS GUARANTEE!"
A post from a building-specific CityPlace Facebook page in which a resident complains about the new toilets. Image via Facebook.
In addition to being easily clogged, and unplungeable by regular means, residents in a CityPlace Facebook group have been complaining that the toilets are difficult to flush.
Complaints have also been logged since March about management pushing through the installation of these toilets while people were trying to self-isolate amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
A resident who would like to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions from the condo board says that management is now telling people that "toilet evaluation specialists" will soon come visit every resident's suite to address the problem.
"We don't mind the idea of having water-efficient toilets, obviously, but being pressured into allowing bad toilets to be installed sucks," they said.
I assume that management and the Board arranged for a bulk purchase of “efficient” toilets and the owners bought them for their units.
The residents that are complaining about being surprised are likely to be renters. It is usually renters who are willing to speak out and to voice complaints on social media.
The part that I find troubling, aside from the obvious lack of communications, is:
“A resident who would like to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions from the condo board”. It is an unhealthy condominium environment where the residents feel afraid of the management or the directors.
—H. Marshall
Comments
I have the same toilet in our place installed by management, they are totally unreliable but you can clear them easily with a normal plunger.
Bryan Cook
“What university did their condo management attend ? I'll remind my relative not to send their children there.”
—Condo Critic
“Poozooka. Wow. I am sorry I can't.”
—Val
“Charming.”
—Rental property manager
“One place we lived had those exact toilets and they're absolutely junk but a regular plunger works just fine.”
—Nathan
Yes, fear is a big problem but a sad reality. Complainers become targets, so they learn very quickly to shut up or move.
Management and the board changed the valves and floats in all the toilets here and most people had to replace them in less than a year because they ran on and used more water.
—Richard