With shortages of toilet paper, combined with an heightened focus on cleaning & sanitizing surfaces, there is a huge increase in the use of so-called "flushable" wipes, sanitizing wipes, and paper towels. These products should NOT be disposed of by flushing them down the toilet.
Centralized sewage collection systems - like the one servicing Gill's Riverside neighborhood - rely on gravity and water flow to move waste through the sewer lines. Toilet paper dissolves in those systems, where as wipes and paper towels don't break down so easily.
Flushing wipes, paper towels and similar products down toilets will clog sewers and cause backups and overflows at sewer pump stations and wastewater treatment facilities, creating an additional public health risk in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Save your pipes. Don't flush wipes. Put them in the trash where they belong.
This advice also applies to houses with traditional septic systems. Now is not the time to have a septic system back up into your house, or to need an emergency visit from a plumber or septic tank pumping company.
Posted: to General News on Fri, Mar 20, 2020
Updated: Fri, Mar 20, 2020
