Water Sector News
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Officials: Don't flush those 'flushable' wipes to help prevent sewer backups
It turns out that those "flushable" wipes that are often sold alongside regular toilet paper are not really flushable.
Local municipal officials are asking people to not flush any kind of wipes down the toilet, no matter what the packaging says.
“They indicate on the label that they are flushable. So people are obviously disposing of them by flushing them down the toilet, and they do not break down very well. So they can hang up and cause sewage blockages,” Tecumseh City Manager Dan Swallow said in an interview.
There were two incidents recently where sewage backed up into homes in Tecumseh because of wipe-induced clogs.
"So we’re trying to get the word out there that these wipes are not flushable," Swallow said. "They don’t break down. They’re very difficult to clean out of the sewers and so that’s been a challenge for us and many other communities across the country.”