“Flushables” wreaking havoc
Images are sourced from wastewater expert, Barry Orr.
Just because you can successfully flush something down your toilet does not mean it's "flushable." Trust me.
After last winter’s ice storm, I was one of the many Torontonians who had to deal with bursting, breaking, and back-upping pipes. You know the scene: you run the dishwasher, and the basement fills up with suds. You do your laundry, and your floor is covered with brown water. It took weeks of contractors, inspectors and my landlord’s hard work to repair the pipes that connected our house to the city’s sewage lines.
In the process, we found one of the major reasons for the clog was flushable wipes. Baby wipes. Facial wipes. Hand wipes. Previous residents and neighbours use them, flush as instructed, and then slowly but surely they build up in the network of pipes. You don’t even know the problem is happening, until it’s too late.
My story is all-too common. All across the city, there are households, businesses, and wastewater facilities backing up because “flushable wipes” aren’t flushable.
Zoom out even further and you can see this happening across the country. Clogs from flushable wipes cost Canadian wastewater utilities $250,000,000 a year.
What can you do? How you can you help prevent non-flushables from causing any more damage?
Head over to the Flatiron at 6pm tonight for a free info session with Blue Drinks Toronto and wastewater expert, Barry Orr. Find out how you can protect your home and your community.
