Water may flow downhill, but sometimes those wipes are not flowing very far or cause problems as they flow. In the WJR’s series, “Wipes, Pipes, and Clogs,” Ken Rigulski reported those convenient, hypo-allergenic wipes are not so convenient after all. They are clogging drains and affecting negatively the municipal systems.
Some of the packages say they’re flushable but they don’t come apart like regular toilet tissue: they stick to other wipes that are being flushed as well as to “other things.” Ron Powierski of Powierski of Plumbing in Shelby says the problems are boosting his business. The pipe cameras show the globs and globs of wipes. Apartments are flooding and becoming ruined because wipes got stuck in the pipes before they even were able to leave the building.
Sewage plant operator Terry Urban says” tons of wipes are coming through” and plant technician Erica Brown says when the wipes mix with raw and untreated sewage, they require special cutting tools or, sometimes, they need to be torched to unclog the equipment. One clog, in particular, was a “large as a baby.” General Manager of the Detroit Sewage System Wendy Barrett says the wipes get stuck on rotors and spinning parts, they get caught in the pumps, and they throw the equipment off balance.
So, the next time you purchase those baby wipes, save yourself and the city the hassle, and not flush the wipes down the toilet.