Health & Fitness
Flushable Wipes Clog Pipes In South Jersey Town
The wipes negatively impacted a pipe replacement project in Mount Laurel earlier this year.
They're called “flushable wipes,” but are they really flushable? Not by the meaning that many people understand, and that recently caused big problems for a major South Jersey project when the product clogged some pipes.
On May 31, the pipes at the Mount Laurel Utility Authority’s (MUA) Larchmont Pump Station stopped working after they became clogged with flushable wipes, the authority said in a post on its Facebook page.
During an emergency response sewage flow was inadvertently redirected into a decommissioned force main on Hartford Road, causing it to leak, according to the MUA. The main was being replaced as part of a replacement project at the plant.
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As a result of the clog, Hartford Road had to be closed for the day, and there are continued road closures while the MUA deals with sewer issues. The MUA is asking for the public’s help in preventing another incident like this.
“Manufacturers of disposable wipes label their products as flushable and have spent hundreds of millions in advertising dollars convincing us of that,” the MUA said. “What they don’t tell us is that these products do not break down when they enter our sewer systems. This was the root cause of the May 31 clog at Larchmont pump station. The truth is this: with the increased use of flushable wipes over the past decade, our related wastewater emergencies have increased ten-fold. Put simply, toilet paper is made to break down in the wastewater system, while flushable wipes do not. And because they do not, these wipes must be removed as part of the treatment process, many times by hand. Please help us by only flushing toilet paper down your toilets.”
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The MUA even demonstrated this test to the community this week, when it invited CBS out to test what happens when you flush the wipes as opposed to toilet paper. The wipes don’t dissolve, and tissues clump up.
“Good old fashioned Toilet Paper WINS!,” MUA declared. “Never flush any type of wipe!”
The attached image was posted by MUA on its Facebook page.
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