It has emerged that staff and patients at a Japanese hospital accidentally drank toilet water instead of drinking water for almost 30 years without realising.
According to Japanese News Outlet Yomiuri Shimbun, it was announced on 20 October by Osaka University that some of the tap water pipes in specific areas of the school's department were implemented incorrectly, which meant that the drinking water pipes were connected to the loo.
To add insult to injury, the issue has been occurring for nearly 30 years, since the hospital opened in 1993 and 120 taps were deemed faulty.
It was reported that employees and patients would drink, wash and gargle the bog water.
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Despite the issue going on for so long, no one realised up until the hospital prepared to build a new diagnosis and treatment building, where the problem was discovered during the inspection.
Reports say that the hospital does, in fact, check the colour, taste and smell of water once a week, based on existing records, which suggests that there has been no problem since 2014.
However, the University claim that there was no health hazards found throughout the investigation.
Are they taking the p**s?
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At a press conference, Director and Vice President Kazuhiko Nakatani apologised.
In translated text, he said: "I am very sorry that the university hospital that provides advanced medical care has caused anxiety."
He added that there are 105 buildings in the university that use simply treated well water, and the school will check the connection of their water pipes.
Staying on the subject of toilets, many people will be able to cast their minds back to being told just before a lengthy car journey to go for a wee, 'just in case'.
Prof Stergios Doumouchtsis is a leading expert in urogynecology and he recently told The Sun: "On a circumstantial basis, it's fine to do it. It's widely done and won't do any harm.
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"But it starts affecting the bladder when you do it always - for example if you're a school teacher and you go habitually every hour between each class. This can result in a change to the bladder function.
"Essentially you sensitise the bladder, it becomes more sensitive. The bladder learns to give you signals of fullness at lower volumes.
"The purpose of the bladder as a reservoir for urine can become compromised, and therefore the bladder will start needing the toilet and sending you signals of urgency too early, when the volumes of the bladder are lower, or more frequently.
"The bladder won't necessarily become anatomically smaller. But functionally it is smaller.
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"Therefore it can affect our activities because we become more engaged to the bladders' calls."
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: World News, Hospital, Japan