Millions of dollars are being lost by wastewater utilities in their effort to address a growing problem: so-called flushable wipes and other products that are not breaking down easily in the sewer system. Those millions of dollars wasted on a problem that is avoidable comes on the heels of a recession and the challenges presented by an aging infrastructure.
According to the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), utilities are spending money sending employees out to respond to overflows to clean such products out of pipes, pumps, and plants.
Millions of dollars are being lost by wastewater utilities in their effort to address a growing problem: so-called flushable wipes and other products that are not breaking down easily in the sewer system. Those millions of dollars wasted on a problem that is avoidable comes on the heels of a recession and the challenges presented by an aging infrastructure. According to the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), utilities are spending money sending employees out to respond to overflows to clean such products out of pipes, pumps, and plants. [text_ad] Although only human waste and toilet paper should be going down the toilet, people are flushing a host of harmful materials: wipes, paper towels, feminine hygiene products, dental floss, pharmaceuticals, and product additives such as triclosan. Fats, oils, and grease (FOG) are also being disposed of improperly down garbage disposals and in toilets. The wipe problem is three-pronged and involves wipes manufacturer responsibility, consumer behavior, and a wastewater utility infrastructure not equipped to deal with the challenge. “It’s not so much the pipe material, but perhaps the age of the pipe and its condition,” says Cynthia Finley, NACWA’s director of regulatory affairs. “Certainly, older clay pipes can have a lot of root intrusion. You can have that happen in any pipe. The underground system isimperfect. Grounds shift, pipes crack, and tree roots get in, so then when you have obstructions, it makes it a lot easier for wipes and other things to get caught on those and start a clog.” Different pumps will react differently based on the way they operate, their age, and the volume of material being handled, says Finley. “Wastewater collection systems and treatment plants are so variable throughout the country and there are many different types of conditions you can encounter,” she adds. The challenge also is an inadvertent result of water conservation. Finley points out that when high efficiency toilets first came out, “they didn’t necessarily flush things as easily, so there was a tendency for some people to not put too much down the toilet.” Aubrey Strause, P.E., who owns Verdant Water in Scarborough, ME, says, “It’s only becoming more of a problem because in California, there are a lot of programs that incentivize residents to put in ultra-low-flush toilets.” People are no longer as cautious with what goes down, “which exacerbates the problem because there is less water pushing these products into the municipal sewer system or septic system.” Today’s low-flow, high-efficiency toilets “have such good flushing power, you can get a ton of stuff down them and even if it doesn’t cause problems in the household system, it gets into the sewer system and the problems arise there,” says Finley. In 2008, NACWA started hearing reports from public wastewater utilities, and in 2009 the complaints began to increase. “Our members asked us if we were doing anything on this issue,” says Finley. “We started working with the Water Environment Federation on it because their collection system committee had also been talking about the issue.” In 2013, the group started to collaborate with INDA, the trade association representing the nonwoven fabrics industry, when it issued its third edition of its voluntary flushability guidelines. “We sent a letter to them in 2013 disagreeing with their new flushability guidelines, which they published anyway at that point,” says Finley. “That started a more in-depth conversation with them to find some solutions.” Not only are there not any viable solutions in sight, says Finley, but she says the problem is worsening. “There are so many people using wipes now in the bathroom setting, and flushing them, most likely because they don’t understand the difference between a wipe that will actually break apart in the sewer system or in their own household plumbing and when that won’t,” she says. “Most baby wipes can’t even be ripped—they just stretch and stretch because they are made of plastic and they’re very strong,” she adds. “The flushable wipes usually pull apart a little bit more easily, but if you put them in water, stir them around and compare them to how toilet paper breaks up, you can easily see that the wipe doesn’t break up in the same way that toilet paper does.” The clogging problem may start anywhere in the system. “There are definitely a lot of homeowners who have had problems in their own systems, which has led to several class action lawsuits going on now,” says Finley. “The good thing is that when it happens there, people react quickly with not flushing that stuff once their plumber tells them what the problem is. It’s an expensive lesson to learn, unfortunately.” If they get out of the household pipes and make into the collection system, and on to a pump station, “they often get caught in the pumps. Especially if you add FOGs, it creates a huge mass of wipes,” says Finley. “Then going all the way to the treatment plant, every piece of equipment in the treatment plant can end up getting wipes on it.” At first, NACWA officials believed wipes to be a problem with smaller systems that have smaller pipes and smaller pumps. “Now we’re finding it in bigger pieces of equipment, too,” says Finley, referencing New York City. “Initially, we thought it was just the collection system, but they’re making it all the way into the treatment plant now.”
Although only human waste and toilet paper should be going down the toilet, people are flushing a host of harmful materials: wipes, paper towels, feminine hygiene products, dental floss, pharmaceuticals, and product additives such as triclosan. Fats, oils, and grease (FOG) are also being disposed of improperly down garbage disposals and in toilets. The wipe problem is three-pronged and involves wipes manufacturer responsibility, consumer behavior, and a wastewater utility infrastructure not equipped to deal with the challenge.
“It’s not so much the pipe material, but perhaps the age of the pipe and its condition,” says Cynthia Finley, NACWA’s director of regulatory affairs. “Certainly, older clay pipes can have a lot of root intrusion. You can have that happen in any pipe. The underground system isimperfect. Grounds shift, pipes crack, and tree roots get in, so then when you have obstructions, it makes it a lot easier for wipes and other things to get caught on those and start a clog.”
Different pumps will react differently based on the way they operate, their age, and the volume of material being handled, says Finley. “Wastewater collection systems and treatment plants are so variable throughout the country and there are many different types of conditions you can encounter,” she adds.
The challenge also is an inadvertent result of water conservation.
Finley points out that when high efficiency toilets first came out, “they didn’t necessarily flush things as easily, so there was a tendency for some people to not put too much down the toilet.”
Aubrey Strause, P.E., who owns Verdant Water in Scarborough, ME, says, “It’s only becoming more of a problem because in California, there are a lot of programs that incentivize residents to put in ultra-low-flush toilets.” People are no longer as cautious with what goes down, “which exacerbates the problem because there is less water pushing these products into the municipal sewer system or septic system.”
Today’s low-flow, high-efficiency toilets “have such good flushing power, you can get a ton of stuff down them and even if it doesn’t cause problems in the household system, it gets into the sewer system and the problems arise there,” says Finley.
In 2008, NACWA started hearing reports from public wastewater utilities, and in 2009 the complaints began to increase. “Our members asked us if we were doing anything on this issue,” says Finley. “We started working with the Water Environment Federation on it because their collection system committee had also been talking about the issue.”
In 2013, the group started to collaborate with INDA, the trade association representing the nonwoven fabrics industry, when it issued its third edition of its voluntary flushability guidelines.
“We sent a letter to them in 2013 disagreeing with their new flushability guidelines, which they published anyway at that point,” says Finley. “That started a more in-depth conversation with them to find some solutions.”
Not only are there not any viable solutions in sight, says Finley, but she says the problem is worsening. “There are so many people using wipes now in the bathroom setting, and flushing them, most likely because they don’t understand the difference between a wipe that will actually break apart in the sewer system or in their own household plumbing and when that won’t,” she says.
“Most baby wipes can’t even be ripped—they just stretch and stretch because they are made of plastic and they’re very strong,” she adds. “The flushable wipes usually pull apart a little bit more easily, but if you put them in water, stir them around and compare them to how toilet paper breaks up, you can easily see that the wipe doesn’t break up in the same way that toilet paper does.”
The clogging problem may start anywhere in the system. “There are definitely a lot of homeowners who have had problems in their own systems, which has led to several class action lawsuits going on now,” says Finley. “The good thing is that when it happens there, people react quickly with not flushing that stuff once their plumber tells them what the problem is. It’s an expensive lesson to learn, unfortunately.”
If they get out of the household pipes and make into the collection system, and on to a pump station, “they often get caught in the pumps. Especially if you add FOGs, it creates a huge mass of wipes,” says Finley. “Then going all the way to the treatment plant, every piece of equipment in the treatment plant can end up getting wipes on it.”
At first, NACWA officials believed wipes to be a problem with smaller systems that have smaller pipes and smaller pumps. “Now we’re finding it in bigger pieces of equipment, too,” says Finley, referencing New York City. “Initially, we thought it was just the collection system, but they’re making it all the way into the treatment plant now.”
