Water Sector News

Watermelon-sized wads of wet wipes clogging sewer systems have been dubbed "sewage sheep" by workers wanting to find humour in their increasingly dirty job.

Fishing the giant balls of inorganic matter from filters used to be a fortnightly task.

Now it is required twice a week at the sewage treatment plant at Warrnambool in Victoria.

Operations team leader Ben Marsden said even products labelled "flushable" are most likely not.

"Every job has its ups and downs and this is definitely a down," he said.

"All around the world, authorities like ours are seeing giant balls of these wet wipes come down the septic system and block up equipment.