Tag Archives: flushable wipes

My Water, Wastewater

Why Does Wastewater Cost More On My Water Bill?

Treating wastewater is complex, using sophisticated biological systems, multiple filters, and modern disinfection methods.

So why does your sewer part of the monthly bill cost more than water usage?

The Short Answer:

It is easier and cheaper to treat lake water to make it drinkable than to treat the community’s wastewater (industrial, commercial, and residential) and make it clean enough to reintroduce into a creek or river.

Water leaving the plant must be free of harmful pollutants to protect fish, turtles, birds, and other creatures that depend on the creek.

Below is a step-by-step guide for turning lake water into potable or drinking water.

And here are the steps to turn your wastewater into creek-able water.

There are more steps to the wastewater treatment process than water treatment process.

Charlotte Water (CLTWater) only uses water meters to measure usage, so wastewater usage is calculated based on that water usage up to a limit or cap.

Energy and chemical costs are higher for wastewater treatment processes, hence the higher cost for wastewater treatment vs. water treatment on a water bill.

The cost to treat wastewater and meet federal regulations continues to increase. Our goal is to always meet and exceed regulations to ensure cleaner water goes into our creeks.

Stop right here if you’re satisfied! The Longer Answer gets a bit technical about how your billing works.

The Longer Answer:

CLTWater pays for water and wastewater services via usage and billing fees, not taxes (contrary to popular belief). CLTWater posted the official Revenue Manual that details all fees.

How can I help reduce my water / sewer bill and rate increases?
Toss all trash in the trashcan, not down a drain. Did you know that ‘flushable’ wipes clog pipes and require manually pulling them out of pumps? Wipes can cause expensive repairs and maintenance.

Additional resources:

Flow Free, What's Going On?

But it says "flushable."

So, you’ve run out of toilet paper and resorted to only using wipes. But it’s okay because you are using “flushable” wipes, right? Nope!

Unfortunately, the word “flushable” doesn’t mean what you think it means…

Flushable wipes do not break down

Toilet paper is specifically made to break down as it travels to the wastewater treatment plant and is the only paper product that should be flushed down the toilet. This means that your wastewater can Flow Free to your local wastewater treatment plant.

Here are some other items that are technically “flushable”:

Technically anything is flushable, but that doesn’t mean you are going to flush your ring or iPhone down the toilet. The same should be said for wipes.

All of the above items, including wipes, do not break down as they travel from your home to our wastewater treatment plant. They get caught up with roots, grease and other items that don’t belong in the sewer and cause blockages. The blockage may happen in your home which could cause sewage to back up into your home (blech) or the blockage can happen farther down the line and cause a sanitary sewer overflow in your neighborhood or stream.

This doesn’t even include the cost of blockages at lift stations. Clogs in pumps and valves lead to higher run times, increased power costs and increased maintenance trips. Crews also have to pull the pumps apart to clear the blockage, and on rare occasions, wipes can even damage the pumping equipment, causing even higher costs to ratepayers.

Overflows are more than inconvenient and nasty. They are also expensive.

Responding to and cleaning up an overflow costs the utility an average of $5,000!

The photo above shows actual wipes that got caught in our lift station and had to be removed by hand. Yuck!

The take home:

Toilet paper is specifically made to break down as it travels to the wastewater treatment plant and is the only paper product that should be flushed down the toilet. This means that your wastewater can Flow Free to your local wastewater treatment plant.

To learn more about how to protect your pipes, visit our website.