The District is always being sized up and weighed against its neighbor to the northeast — New York. And in most regards, New Yorkers or New York transplants view D.C. as a quaint, backwards little town made important only by the presence of the federal government within its boundaries. That may be so. But at least our toilets don’t clog as often.

In some of the stranger news we have read today, a study sponsored by Scott Products, makers of toilet paper, towels and napkins found that New Yorkers clog their toilets more often than residents of any other city in the U.S., earning their city the title of the “nation’s cloggiest.” Coming in behind the Big Apple were Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Houston, while the title for nation’s least “cloggy” city went to Seattle/Tacoma, trailed by Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul. The District appeared on neither list, though Baltimore did the region proud by ranking fifth on the least cloggy tally.

While the news might seem odd, even odder still is the story behind the survey that produced the news:

The SCOTT Clog Clinic, an authority on common-sense solutions for avoiding stopped-up toilets, sponsored the survey to help Americans understand just how much of a nuisance a toilet clog can be and to offer common-sense ways to avoid such toilet-paper dissolve-ability problems. The release of the survey also comes as National Plumber’s Day is on April 25.

There’s more:

“Our Clog Clinic researchers have been studying toilet-plumbing problems since 1996 and they maintain that clogs can be avoided if proper steps are taken,” says Stu Schneider, SCOTT® Brand associate marketing director.

The survey also yielded some interesting findings. Two percent of respondents admitted to flushing a cell phone or iPod down the toilet, while 14 percent have faced embarrassing clogs while visiting their in-laws.