Australia is a country that has a lot of people who buy things there. Wet wipes have been popping up on supermarket shelves over the last few years. A product that can be used for a lot of different things, they are now used as an alternative to toilet paper in a lot of Australian homes.
Second guess what brands say, “With product labels from well-known brands saying that these wipes can be flushed, we can’t be blamed for not believing otherwise.”
However, these wipes aren’t just clogging up our home plumbing systems. They’re also contributing to a problem that’s a lot worse than that. That’s what a CCTV drain inspection Sydney says in most cases.
Consumers Are Making A Million-Dollar Problem Worse
Despite what these companies say, the wipes are causing problems down the pipe network, which is costing the government a lot of money to clear.
Around 3,500 blockages happen in the Sydney city sewer system each year, and wet wipes are the main culprit. It’s thought that wet wipes cause up to 75% of all sewer network blockages.
Getting rid of system blockages is a physically demanding job that workers have to do all the time.
The rise of “fatbergs” is a common topic in the news these days. Sewage system workers in major cities around the world hate them. Fatbergs are solid masses that build up in sewer systems. They are usually made up of grease, fats, and other things that don’t break down. Most often, they’re made up of wet wipes.
The popularity of disposable clothes has led to more of these masses being found in sewer systems. When a fatberg the size of 11 double-decker buses was removed from a sewer tunnel in 2017, it weighed as much as 11 buses. It took a crane to get rid of a fatberg that was so big that it had to be taken out of a sewer.
A High Court Decision On Flushable Wipes Could Be Confusing To People
A recent High Court ruling about a case against the makers of Kleenex flushable wipes found that there was no evidence that the wipes were not safe for flushing. It’s a very controversial decision, but it goes against the views of people who use water and people who care about the environment and the environment.
People who work for Sydney water said that the three P’s: poo, pee, and paper.
“From a waste management point of view, there are no wipes that can be flushed.”
The number of wipes that get flushed down the toilet has gone down since Sydney Water started its “Keep Wipes Out of Pipes” campaign in January of 2013.
Tests On Wet Wipes Are Being Done By Scientists
To see if wipes can be flushed down the drain, a 1.2km long fake sewer is being used in Brisbane. This testing, which began at the start of 2019, is meant to find out if any wipes on the market can be flushed. The goal is to set up a national standard for these wipes.
So far, the results aren’t good. Wipes that are being tested aren’t all the same, but they’re usually too strong and can’t break down in the sewer.
If a wipe was made to break down properly and not clog up sewers, there’s a good chance it would get a thumbs up.