Flushable Wipes Not So Flushable for Area Sewer Systems
SUMMERDALE, AL (WALA) –
Posted: May 13, 2015 3:44 PM CDT Updated: May 13, 2015 6:17 PM CDT
You’ve seen them at grocery stores and may have used them yourself: pre-moistened, personal wipes that are advertised as “flushable.”
But, sewer systems around the country say those wipes are clogging sewer lines and costing you money.
FOX10 News talked to officials at one Baldwin County sewer system about what they’ve seen, and what they advise.
A BIG “RAG BALL”
Officials with sewer systems, like the Baldwin County Sewer Service, or BCSS in Summerdale, say they often create clogs and backups in sewer systems .
Campbell Noonan, Installation Supervisor with the Baldwin County Sewer Service says, “Generally, they’re made of cotton cloth, and they’re made to be disposable in water over time. The problem is, when they go through a system, a pressure system or a gravity system like we have in Mobile and Baldwin Counties, they don’t sit in the water long enough to dissolve and break up.”
And, Noonan says they get pushed through the system, build up with other waste over time, and can look like a big “rag ball,” as Noonan describes it.
WHEN CLOGS HAPPEN
BCSS officials say clogs can cause overflows and send untreated sewage into local waterways.
And, if you have to call the sewer system to fix a clog at your house, you’re the one who pays.
Lisa Burke, Marketing Director with BCSS, says, “It can be a $75 service charge just to go out there and fix something quickly on site, or it could be upwards of hundreds of dollars if it really causes an issue with the pump or the line.”
MANUFACTURERS AND FLUSHABLES
What do companies that make the flushable wipes say about the issue?
Fox Ten News contacted Kimberly-Clark, which makes Cottonelle and Scott Naturals.
Company officials say Kimberly-Clark’s flushable wipes are flushable because they lose strength rapidly in sewer systems and break down.
But, there have still been enough concerns about flushable wipes that an industry trade group, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, tells Fox Ten News it has joined other water and fabric industry groups to work on new design and marketing guidelines for flushable products, to make sure there’s no adverse effect on wastewater systems.
For now, Noonan has this advice: “Mostly, take from it: wastewater (and) toilet paper, that’s it . You don’t want to put anything else down your system that’s going to cause a headache for everyone.”
Read more and view video: http://www.fox10tv.com/story/29050412/flushables-not-so-flushable-for-area-sewer-systems#ixzz3bHY1GL82
