In 2020, French TikToker Cyrilschr (who is no longer at that account) played with Orbeez, beads made of sodium polyacrylate, a superabsorbent polymer that soaks up water. The beads can expand to many times their size when exposed to water. So Cyrilschr bought enough Orbeez to fill his bathtub. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and made a fun video. But then what? How do you get rid of them? He thought it would be a simple matter of letting them go down the drain. But they aren't liquid, and they clogged the drains. The follow up TikTok videos told a horror story as he panicked over the growing problem of Orbeez in the sewer. It's both funny and horrifying.
The original videos are narrated in a combination of French and German, and this compilation has been edited down and English captions added. You'll have to toggle the CC button to turn them on. Boing Boing has the full compilation of videos, but the captions are not available in English.
This human stain needs to rethink the priorities of his life.
ReplyDeleteBut but what happened, how did the fix it, where can I get some? heh heh heh
ReplyDeletexoxoxoBruce
So I see a plug in a bathtub drain and the tub filled with water. Then I see water absorbent beads added. The beads grow up to 150 times their size as they absorb water. At some point, hours later apparently, the drain plug is pulled and the super-sized beads all go effortlessly down the drain and take out the plumbing in the house and the neighborhood. Later there's also a scene of some sort of smoke in the vicinity of a vacuum cleaner but whatever. No need to "expand" on this any further methinks.
ReplyDeleteHe should have used quick drying cement.
ReplyDelete