Wastewater authorities say wipes may go down the toilet, but even
many labeled flushable aren't breaking down as they course through the
sewer system. That's costing some municipalities millions of dollars to
dispatch crews to unclog pipes and pumps and to replace and upgrade
machinery.The problem got so bad in this western New York community this
summer that sewer officials set up traps _ basket strainers in sections
of pipe leading to an oft-clogged pump _ to figure out which households
the wipes were coming from. They mailed letters and then pleaded in
person for residents to stop flushing them.Clawfoot tub accessories"We
could walk right up, knock on the door and say, `Listen, this problem
is coming right from your house,'" said Tom Walsh, senior project
coordinator at South & Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer Districts, which
was dispatching crews at least once a week to clear a grinder pump that
would seize up trying to shred the fibrous wipes.The National
Association of Clean Water Agencies, which represents 300 wastewater
agencies, says it has been hearing complaints about wipes from sewer
systems big and small for about the last four years.That roughly
coincides with the ramped-up marketing of the "flushable cleansing
cloths" as a cleaner, fresher option than dry toilet paper alone. A
trade group says wipes are a $6 billion-a-year industry, with sales of
consumer wipes increasing nearly 5 percent a year since 2007 and
expected to grow at a rate of 6 percent annually for the next five
years.One popular brand,aluminum foil tape Cottonelle,
has a campaign called "Let's talk about your bum" and ads showing
people trying to wash their hair with no water. It ends with the
tagline: "You can't clean your hair without water, so why clean your bum
that way?"Manufacturers insist wipes labeled flushable aren't the
problem, pointing instead to baby and other cleaning wipes marked as
nonflushable that are often being used by adults.
"My team
regularly goes sewer diving" to analyze what's causing problems, said
Trina McCormick, a senior manager at Kimberly-Clark Corp., maker of
Cottonelle. "We've seen the majority, 90 percent in fact, are items that
are not supposed to be flushed, like paper towels, feminine products or
baby wipes."Wastewater officials agree that wipes, many of which are
made from plastic, aren't the only culprits but say their problems have
escalated with the wipes market.Vancouver, Wash., sewer officials say
wipes labeled as flushable are a big part of a problem that has caused
that city to spend more than $1 million in the last five years replacing
three large sewage pumps and eight smaller ones that were routinely
clogging.To prove their point, they dyed several kinds of wipes and sent
them through the sewer for a mile to see how they would break up. They
didn't.Those labeled flushable, engineer Frank Dick said, had "a little
rips and tears but still they were intact."The Washington Suburban
Sanitary Commission, which serves Montgomery and Prince George's
counties in Maryland, has also spent more than $1 million over five
years installing heavy-duty grinders, while the Orange County, Calif.,Antique faucets Sanitation
District, in a single year recorded 971 "de-ragging" maintenance calls
on 10 pump stations at a cost of $320,000.Clogging problems in Waukesha,
Wis.,Spherical roller bearings 240K30 Series from China prompted
the sewer authority there to create a "Keep Wipes out of Pipes" flier.
And Ocean City, Md., and Sitka, Alaska, are among cities that have also
publicly asked residents not to flush wipes, regardless of whether they
are labeled flushable.Angular contact ball bearings 78C Series from ChinaThe
problem got worldwide attention in July when London sewer officials
reported removing a 15-ton "bus-sized lump" of wrongly flushed grease
and wet wipes, dubbed the "fatberg."The complaints have prompted a
renewed look at solving the problem.The Association of the Nonwoven
Fabrics Industry, the trade group known as INDA, recently revised
voluntary guidelines and specified seven tests for manufacturers to use
to determine which wipes to call flushable. It also recommends a
universal do-not-flush logo _ a crossed-out stick figure and toilet _ be
prominently displayed on non-dispersible products.The wastewater
industry would prefer mandatory guidelines and a say in what's included
but supports the INDA initiatives as a start. Three major wastewater
associations issued a joint statement with INDA last week to signal a
desire to reach a consensus on flushability standards."If I'm doing the
test, I'm going to throw a wipe in a bucket of water and say it has to
disintegrate," said Rob Villee, executive director of the Plainfield
Area Regional Sewage Authority in New Jersey.Nicholas Arhontes, director
of facilities support services in Orange County, Calif., has an even
simpler rule for what should go down the toilet."Only flush pee, poop
and toilet paper," he said, "because those are the only things that
sanitary sewers were really designed for in the old days."
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