State Water Board News Advisory: Do Not Flush Disinfecting Wipes, Paper Towels, Down the Toilet: Click here for further information.
State Water Board reminds people not to flush disinfecting wipes and paper towels as usage increases due to COVID-19.
EPA Encourages Americans to Only Flush Toilet Paper
Overview
Single-use wet wipes have gained popularity in recent years. Many of these products are marketed as flushable, but often times are not compatible with sewer systems and infrastructure. Other products are not intended to be flushed but end up being improperly disposed of in the toilet. Flushing these products presents an increasing problem for property owners, sewer systems, and ratepayers, since wipes often do not break down after being flushed. Wipes can catch on tree roots and accumulate with fats, oils and grease and become large obstructions in the pipes. Further down the line, they weave together and create giant rags which get stuck in pumps, collection systems, and motors, causing backups and equipment failures. This problem is experienced across the state, country, and worldwide as disposable wet wipe products become more widely available.
Legislation
- AB 1672 (Bloom, 2019)
- Prior Legislation: AB 2256 (Huffman, 2010)
- Washington Wipes Labeling Legislation, H.B. 2565
- Minnesota Wipes Labeling Legislation, H.F. 3131
Communications Tools
- Flushable Wipes Process
- “Wipes Clog Pipes”
- Wipes Clog Pipes Video:
ShareDrive link containing all the video files for download
Central San YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/VSP70FLhiYc
Central San Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/CentralSanDist/videos/423659261696457/
In The News
CA Media Stories
- COVID-19 Video Shows Impact of Wipes Clogging Sewer Facilities (ABC KGO TV-7)
- Because of the TP shortage, people are using wipes (SF Gate)
- New State Guidance on Essential Public Services
- People Are Using Alternatives To Toilet Paper, And It Could End Up Clogging Sewage Pipes All Over (BuzzFeed)
Toilet paper shortage leads to sewer backup in Redding (Actions News Now) - Toilet paper shortages caused by coronavirus blamed for spike in raw-sewage spills (SF Chronicle)
- Low on Toilet Paper? Here’s what not to flush down your toilet (CBS 8)
- Don’t Flush Those Disinfecting Wipes Down the Toilet, Water Board Begs (NBC Los Angeles)
- Disinfecting Wipes being Flushed Down Toilets Causing Major Pipe Problems (CBS SF Bay Area)
- Coronavirus cleaning – Don’t flush disinfectant wipes (LA Times)
- California Issues Warning About Disinfecting Wipes (Mercury News)
- What’s Safe to Flush? Toilet tips as coronavirus spreads (The News & Observer)
- Avoid Fatbergs, Don’t Flush Wipes Due to Virus, California Says (Bloomberg Environment)
- Flushable wipes are bad for plumbing (San Diego)
- Flushable Wipes News Coverage SASD (KRCA Sacramento)
- Disposable Hand Wipes Clog Bay Area Sewer Treatment Plants (ABC Bay Area)
- Flushable Wipes are Clogging Local Pipes (Fox News Bakersfield)
- Flushable Wipes Causing Backups in Sacramento’s Sewer System (CBS Sacramento)
- Don’t Believe Any Wipes “Flushable,” East Bay Agencies Warn (East Bay Times)
U.S. Media Stories
- Experts Say Don’t Flush Anything but Toilet Paper (NBC News)
- People are Using More Wipes Because of Coronavirus, Clogging Sewers (NPR)
- So You’ve Run Out of Toilet Paper. What Else will Flush? (Popular Mechanics)
- Americans Coping with the Coronavirus are Clogging Toilets (NY Times)
- Disinfecting wipes being flushed down pipes is causing major pipe problems (CNN)
- Coronavirus causes toilet paper frenzy sewer officials give warning (USA Today)
- Why You Probably Shouldn’t Flush Flushable Wipes (D.C.)
- In Fatberg Fight, NYC Goes to War Against Flushable Wipes: The $1.1 billion market has taxpayers around the globe footing the bill (Bloomberg)
- ‘No Wipes In The Pipes’: Flushable Wipes Causing Problems In Wastewater System (Colorado)
- Washington, DC Proposes Nation’s First Wipes Regulation (D.C.)
- Wipes Clogging Up Miami-Dade Sewer System (Florida)
- West Kentucky city reminding residents what not to flush down toilet (Kentucky)
- Millions Of Dollars In Sewer Clogs Prompts Flushable-Wipes Lawsuit (Minnesota)
- Fatbergs still clogging NYC pipes to the tune of $20 million a year, DEP says (New York)
- Don’t flush the flushable wipes, township warns (Pennsylvania)
- Regulations and Testing Are Needed to Fight “Flushable” Wipes (Environmental Science & Engineering)
- Don’t Believe the Label – “Flushable Wipes” Clog Sewers (The Conversation)
- Are Wet Wipes Wrecking the World’s Sewers? (The Atlantic)
- Wet Wipes Box Says Flush. New York’s Sewer System Says Don’t (New York Times)
International Media Stories
- Municipal Leaders Urge Residents to Think About What they Flush (Water Canada)
- The biggest headache for the pump engineer is the wet wipe (UK)
- Majority of Canadians Don’t Trust Manufacturers’ Claims About “Flushability” of Wipes (Canada)
- Campaign against ‘flushable’ wipes long overdue: City (Canada)
@CASA_CleanWater