19-Year Fight Over Loud Toilet Is Finally Over

Back in 2003, somebody flushed a toilet in the middle of the night in Italy and the couple in the neighboring apartment thought, boy that was loud. Nineteen years later, that couple near La Spezia has finally won their legal case against the neighbors for too-loud flushing at night, reports the Times of London. The case reached the nation's highest court, which cited principles laid out by the European Court of Human Rights in deciding for the couple, notes the Washington Post. The toilet was not only loud, it was reportedly used often—"aggravated by frequent night use," is how the court put it.

The judges ruled that the flushing compromised the couple's quality of life by disrupting their sleep and jeopardizing their health. As the case inched its way through the Italian legal system over the years, the full story emerged. Four brothers owned the apartment with the loud toilet, and they installed the water tank in a shared wall that happened to be the couple's bedroom wall. Italy's supreme court ordered the brothers to move the tank and pay the couple 500 euros (or about $565) for every year it was in place, reports the Guardian. That will amount to about $10,700 for the couple. (More strange stuff stories.)