Brownsburg told not to flush wet wipes after sewer backups
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (WISH) – Sewers are overflowing in Brownsburg, and now town officials are looking to fix a problem they say stems from the bathroom habits of residents.
Earlier this month, Kathy Dillon, Brownsburg’s wastewater superintendent, spoke in front of the town council about an ongoing issue relating to the disposal of wet wipes.
Town officials are begging Brownsburg residents to stop flushing their wet wipes down the toilet. Dillon urges people to think before throwing their wipes down the drain.
“The baby wipes are a huge problem,” said Dillon.
According to Dillon, they realized there was a problem around the 4th of July, when the department noticed the flow sensors were not working.
“I got out there and baby wipes have wrapped perfectly all up and down that sensor system in there, and so the lift station thought it should be pumping all the time, but it was actually dry to the bottom. Which will burn up our pumps and that’s a $15,000-20,000 pump sitting down there,” said Dillon.
Ben Ratcliffe, a Brownsburg resident, says that he regularly uses wet wipes for his three-year-old son and flushes them.