Can I flush wet wipes?

The short answer is No! But read more to find out why.

It looks like 2022 is going to mirror 2021 at times with supermarket shelves bare due to various issues. One of the main challenges we have seen arise from this is toilet paper, or the lack off.

Did you know 75% of all blockages are now attributable in some way to people flushing wet wipes into the sewers or treatment plants and the issue was amplified at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with people resorting to alternatives to toilet paper. It is also estimated the Australian Water service is spending a minimum of $15 Million dollars annually combatting this problem. 

We have had to educate many of our customers that wet wipes or paper towel is not a suitable replacement for toilet paper if you own a waste water treatment plant. The Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) has received reports of increases in blockages of between 20 and 60 percent in 2020, with people flushing materials like paper towels and wet wipes.

In 2019 a standards committee was established and shortly after testing began, including running wet wipes from a huge array of brands through the simulation sewer to see how they responded in a more realistic setting. This is a 1.2 kilometre-long network of above ground pipes at the Luggage Point Resource Recovery Centre in Brisbane and is the largest replica sewer in the world. It is good to see Australia on the front foot with this as an attempt to address the problem, and even better that’s its being done right here in QLD. This data is then being used to create a new standard which is still in the draft stages, DR AS/NZS 5328, Flushable Products.

Its great to see action in this area in what is not just a localised problem but one that is world wide! Whilst we wait on the new standard and hopefully the positive changes it bring to the industry,. as always it is good the remember the three P’s which is all that should enter a waste water treatment plant, Pee’s, Poo’s and Paper. If you have a problem with your treatment plant and would like us to help please contact us