You’ve all seen our newest Pipes Hate Wipes Campaign right?
Just in case you haven’t, here is one of the hilarious videos.
Wipes Are Out
Transcript for this video appears at the bottom of this page.
Ok, so you now know that “flushable” wipes are out. But we received a great question about wipe alternatives on Facebook.
So we asked one of the experts. Henry Eudy is the Plant Manager for the Mallard Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. The plant is one of five wastewater treatment plants in Mecklenburg County and treats about 9.6 million gallons of wastewater everyday.
Here is what he said:
“Well, to be honest, this is a new one on me. I guess I’m not totally up on the advents of wiping technology but this seems like a pretty good idea! The spray is applied directly to the toilet paper so the difficulty in breaking down the dense fabric wipes is bypassed. The sprays I looked at were derived from natural sources and contained oils and fragrances that would not cause an issue with the treatment system so far as I could tell.
I didn’t specifically see any sprays that were anti-bacterial but that would be something to keep in mind. Because the treatment system works primarily through beneficial bacteria, products designed to kill and eliminate harmful bacteria can often have the unintended effect of wiping out the good guys too. Even so, likely a spray of this sort would be of a small enough concentration that it probably would not affect the system. So, yeah, these sprays sound OK to me.”
So Yasmine and others, you heard it from us first, don’t flush those wipes. And if you just need a little extra for that tushy, sprays won’t harm the wastewater treatment process.
Transcript for the video: “Wipes Are Out:”
As title play, “There were 165 Sanitary Sewer Overflows in our community last year. 25 percent of those spills were caused by debris like fluhshble wipes. Flushable wipes don’t break down in sewer pipes and belong in the trash can,” a man dressed in costume that looks like a giant white, walking flushable wipe sheet walks into a concert hall. He greets attendees, many boo him. “I’m so excited to be here! Yes! The symphony! I’m part of the virtuoso circle here. He’s the man. Sit down, white! Sit down! Toot toot! Toot toot! Toot toot! Toot toot! We’re for blue! Me? One, two, three. Uh-oh!” Another costumes person dressed as a giant section of silver pipe sits in the audience unhappy to see the wipe.