Cleaning and Sanitary wipes ARE NOT flushable! Including those that are labeled “flushable”. It’s just not true!

REPOSTED

Edited in response to recent events, and as a reminder.

When Owners and residents report clogs, it remains far FAR too common for our team to pull wipes out of the line or stuck inside the toilet. A recent event resulted in almost 40 hours of work by multiple maintenance employees, including our in house plumber. AND we had to call outside help as well. It impacted 4 units and prevented our team from getting to scheduled work elsewhere.

This is what we pulled from the line, in the picture to the right.

Not too far away, is what our team suspects is the culprit:

How do we know? Because along with the old, crusty, almost unrecognizable ‘swiffer’ wipes, are relatively new ones recently discarded in the toilet.

FOLKS! These are not flushable! And we know no one wants to learn that the hard way when you open your assessment statement to $4000+ chargebacks (or more).

In one case from the past, a Unit was flooded multiple times. Our plumber pulled several large wads of sanitary wipes from the main line. The wipes got caught and accumulated at the junction between the main sewer line and the branch-line at their floor. This not only caused widespread wall and flooring damage, but meant there was raw sewage flowing into their home. The flooding impacted multiple units.

In another case, an Owner and our team have struggled to isolate problems with the unit’s toilet. An old toilet was repaired due to fill problems and frequent back-ups, so much so that a decision was made to install a new toilet. Now the new toilet is having similar problems. In both cases, the only really true common denominator is that wipes and possibly other materials were in the line and potentially lodged in the toilet and drain vents.

ANY LOCATION within Park Tower could be susceptible from the basement all the way up to the 55th floor.

SO – PLEASE NEVER FLUSH ANY WIPES! It does not matter what the packaging says. NO WIPES ARE FLUSHABLE! Throw them in the garbage.

Despite the false advertising and labeling, there is no such thing as a “Flushable Wipe”. Not by any stretch of the imagination and especially in high rise plumbing, where we have miles and miles of drain lines. Wet wipes and the like – yes even those that say “flushable” on the label, can easily get stuck or balled up in the line, and cause YUCKY overflows, flooding and in some cases serious damage to homes.

Above, and below, wads of wipes pulled out of a sewer main. Very sadly this follows a similar event which required the flooring and walls to need replacement.

An even large clump pulled out during the most recent flooding event:

Read more about this, from prior posts.

And in this case, you don’t need to take it from me. There is a plethora of information available online, and the verdict is virtually unanimous:

THERE IS NO SUCH THING, as flushable wipes.

From The Family Handyman:

https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/are-flushable-wipes-really-flushable/

From The Spruce

https://www.thespruce.com/are-flushable-wipes-really-flushable-5191412

From NPR Online:

https://www.npr.org/2017/11/30/567572996/wet-wipes-to-flush-or-not-to-flush

From The Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/08/20/why-you-probably-shouldnt-flush-flushable-wipes/

From The Atlantic:

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/10/are-wet-wipes-wrecking-the-worlds-sewers/504098/

From NBC’s Today Show:

https://www.today.com/series/one-small-thing/are-flushable-wipes-really-flushable-t151945

So, PLEASE – by all means use wipes if you like, just dispose of them in your garbage. NOT the toilet.