It's a classic urban legend: After watching the Super Bowl with undivided attention while gorging on chicken wings and beer, America collectively gets up to use the bathroom during halftime.
The myth goes that the collective flushing of said nachos and beer then proceeds to wreck havoc on overloaded municipal waste systems in what is known as the 'Big Flush.'
But how much of the myth is actually true?
Very little, actually.
Municipal water systems can certainly handle a surge, like the one that occurs every morning between 6 am and 8 am as millions use the toilet and take showers.
The Big Flush's legend was bolstered after the 1984 Super Bowl in Salt Lake City, when a 16-inch water main burst that Sunday, although no link was ever established between the game watchers' toilet activity and the coincidental break.
There is some truth to the Big Flush myth, as water use does spike during key points of the game — specifically the halftime show and the end of the game.
For example, according to Pat Kiernan's news blog, Pat's Papers, water use in Palm Beach County in Florida during the the 2011 Super Bowl peaked during the half time show, followed by smaller increases right before the start of the second half, and again before the start of the third quarter. Water use then stayed low until the end the game, when the biggest surge occurred.
The surge in water use seems to be measurable in reservoirs, even.
After the Giant's victory in the 2012 Super Bowl, water use jumped 13% in New York City, which was enough to drain the 30-foot-deep Hillview Reservoir in nearby Yonkers by 2 inches, reported the New York Post.
The phenomenon was even more pronounced in Canada during the 2010 Olympic hockey final between the USA and Canada. Edmonton Ontario's water use spiked after each period ended, and slowly decreased until a small surge after the dramatic final shootout in overtime, and another major spike after the medal ceremony.
So this Super Bowl, eat, drink and flush away. You won't break any sewer pipes.
