It turns out that these wipes aren’t all that flushable — because they don’t break down in the drains.
Around half of all wipes sold are marketed under the “flushable” label and deemed safe for septic systems by their makers. Across America sewer lines and pumps are backing up and becoming clogged with these “flushable” wipes because in reality they are NOT safe to flush. Those labels are marketing hyperbole used to sell more wipes to more people and we are only beginning to see the negative effects it is having on sewer systems.
This isn’t only a matter of so-called flushable wipes not breaking down, as only a small percentage are marketed as flushable. The rest of the wipes clogging up wastewater treatment plants are there because people flushed wipes inappropriately. What can happen when masses of these wipes collect in one place?
Watch below the really enlightening but rather disgusting video to find out yourself what mess we are causing!
That has translated into millions of dollars of repair work to septic systems which is passed along to the taxpayers and residents who use these pipes and wipes. Officials in many cities report numerous instances of sewage pumps routinely becoming clogged and needing to be replaced. The lesson of this story will hopefully be commonsense one day soon, do not flush wet wipes regardless of whether they are labeled flushable or not. Instead, please dispose of them in the trash, where they will end up anyways but without adding up to unnecessary, nasty, costly clogs.
The problem with flushable wipes (other than their lack of dispersibility) is that they confuse the message that utilities are trying to deliver that only toilet paper and human waste should be flushed. Public education is critical to reducing this problem, and many utilities have distributed posters and flyers to their customers.
Save your city by being more careful with your wastes! Show some respect to the environment and those people who work there and do all the dirty work!
Share this enlightening message with others!