Jeepers, creepers! Look at this photo. This dumpster contains the ingredients of a fatberg — a toxic stew of fats, oils and grease that met up in the sewage system with sanitary products, none of which should ever have been flushed down the toilet.
The mix clumps together and hardens, reducing flow through the pipes that carry wastewater to treatment plants. Without intervention, it can turn into a rock-hard, gigantic fatberg, bringing services to a standstill.
Think it couldn’t happen here? This photo was taken in Norfolk, at HRSD’s Virginia Initiative Wastewater Treatment Plant. This globby mix includes paper towels, baby wipes, cotton swabs, sanitary products, fabric softener sheets, and possibly the most common offender of all: disposable wipes, said Lacie Wever, community education and outreach specialist for the Hampton Roads Sanitation District.
These so-called “flushable” wipes, made of fibrous materials, do not break down the way toilet paper does. Flushing them is like flushing a handkerchief down the toilet.
Other household items that should never be flushed include cat litter, cigarette butts, diapers and diaper liners, dryer sheets, facial tissues, family planning products, feminine hygiene products, paper towels, toilet bowl scrubbing pads, dental floss (which can wrap around other items, creating monster-sized clogs), and kitchen food scraps and fats, oils and grease — “FOG.”
When a pipe clogs or equipment breaks down, untreated sewage can back up inside a home and outside into streets — where it can enter storm drains and waterways. A dangerous pollutant, untreated sewage can cause sudden increases in nitrogen and bacteria in a body of water, killing aquatic life (plants, fish, crabs and more), closing beaches and leading to health warnings on local seafood consumption.
“What you flush can impact our daily lives,” Wever said. “We often don’t think about what happens after water leaves our drains or toilets, but it’s important to understand that wastewater sanitation has an impact on public health and the health of our waterways.”
Clogged pipes and backups can also be expensive. If a clog occurs in the home’s plumbing, the responsibility and cost of repairs falls on the homeowner or resident. If a backup occurs in the municipal sanitary sewer line, we all bear the cost of repairs in the form of the utility fees we pay. We’re all responsible for protecting this system.
Something as simple as not flushing trash can have a significant impact. Wever said it best: “Only your personal business and toilet paper should be flushed down the toilet.”
Don’t flush
- Cat litter
- Cigarette butts
- Cotton swabs
- Dental floss
- Diapers and diaper liners
- Dryer sheets
- Facial tissues
- Fats, oils, grease and food scraps from the kitchen
- Family planning products
- Feminine hygiene products
- Paper towels
- Toilet bowl scrubbing pads
- Wipes (even if labeled flushable) — including baby wipes, personal hygiene wipes and all-purpose cleaning wipes
Katie Cullipher and Rebekah Eastep are team leaders of the askHRgreen.org public awareness and education campaign for the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission. For more ways to make an environmental difference in Hampton Roads, visit askHRgreen.org.
