Being 'green' and sustainable means using less and less disposable products. It's amazing the problems City Utilities run into due to the wrong items being disposed of down the toilets. It looks like from this article, the safest thing to flush is still just old-fashion toilet paper.
Sewer agencies across the country say the rapidly growing use of moistened "personal" wipes is clogging pipes and jamming pumps.
By Katherine Shaver (edited by Gene)
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Next time you go to toss that "flushable" wipe in the toilet, you might want to consider a request from your sewer utility: Don't.
Sewer agencies across the country say the rapidly growing use of moistened "personal" wipes — used most often by potty-training toddlers and people seeking what's advertised as a more "thorough" cleaning than toilet paper — are clogging pipes and jamming pumps.
Utilities struggling with aging infrastructure have wrestled for years with the problem of "ragging" — when baby wipes, dental floss, paper towels and other items not designed for flushing entangle sewer pumps.
The latest menace, officials say, is that wipes and other products, including pop-off scrubbers on toilet-cleaning wands, are increasingly being marketed as "flushable." Even ever-thickening, super-soft toilet paper is worrisome because it takes longer to disintegrate, some say.
"Just because you can flush it doesn't mean you should," said I.J. Hudson, a spokesman for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, which handles sewage for 1.8 million Maryland residents in Montgomery and Prince George's counties.
The result: Utility officials say crews needed for sewer maintenance and repairs are being deployed instead to wipes patrol.
The commission has spent more than $1 million to install heavy-duty grinders to shred wipes and other debris before they reach pumps on the way to the treatment plant, Hudson said. Officials with the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority say that more than 500 staff hours have been devoted in the past 12 months to removing stuck wipes and repairing broken equipment.
The wipes also contribute to blockages that cause sewage to overflow into streams and back up into basements.
This summer, a 15-ton glob of wipes and hardened cooking grease the size of a bus — and nicknamed "Fatberg" by the Brits — was discovered in a London sewer pipe after residents complained of toilets that would not flush.
Feds investigating
What constitutes "flushable" might soon get federal oversight. Officials of the wastewater industry and wipe manufacturers say the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently asked for data as part of an investigation into the "flushable" label.
Wipe manufacturers say they are trying to reduce wear and tear on sewer systems and septic tanks. A trade group, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, is forming a technical work group with utility officials to sort through differences over how wipes should be tested for flushability and how quickly they should be required to break apart.
They also suggest making "Do Not Flush" logos — an encircled person and toilet with a slash — more prominent on those that do not pass the tests but are commonly used in bathrooms.
Dave Rousse, president of the fabrics group, said the primary problem lies with people flushing paper towels, baby wipes and other products not advertised — or designed — for toilets. Rousse said. "We agree we need to label products appropriately and educate the public to flush responsibly — to look for and obey disposal instructions."
Standard in dispute
Utility officials say one of the manufacturers' key tests for wipes marketed as "flushable" does not mimic real-life sewer systems. The "slosh box" test requires that at least one-quarter of a wipe agitated in water be broken into pieces small enough to pass through a small sieve within three hours. However, utility officials say wipes can reach a pump within a couple of minutes. Moreover, many sewer systems move sewage primarily via downhill gravity and are not nearly as hard on the wipes as the agitation test, utility officials say.
Manufacturers disagree, saying their newly streamlined tests ensure that wipes marketed as "flushable" are safe for sewer and septic systems.
Utility officials say they need to resolve the differences soon.
Sales of consumer wipes are predicted to grow by about 6 percent annually for the next five years, he said.
For the whole article - http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2021778688_wipesclogxml.html
Gene Dempsey, City Forester
Office of Sustainability
Office - (954) 828-5785 Fax - (954) 828-4745
