Flushable Wipes
We know we have a problem.
What can we do about it?
WHAT ARE PUBLIC AGENCIES DOING ABOUT THE
PROBLEM?
 COMPLAINING
 MORE LINE CLEANING
 MORE EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE & PUMP UNCLOGGING
 PUMP REPLACEMENT
 PUBLIC OUTREACH
WHAT DOES THE PUBLIC THINK?
HOW ARE THEY AFFECTED?
Plugged toilets.
Clogged laterals.
Interior water damage.
Plumbing repairs.
ARE THEY CONCERNED?
Consumers continue buying products.
Consumers appreciate the convenience of flushing.
Consumers love to “flush” germs rather than store them in the trashcan.
Manufacturers continue trying to make everything known to man flushable.
DO THEY EVEN KNOW THERE IS A PROBLEM?
Probably a small percentage.
(See next slide)
IF THEY KNEW THERE WAS A PROBLEM WOULD THEY CARE?
Only if it is costing them money or inconvenience.
Mental Poo Blog
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Flushable Wipes, My Ass!
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Thank you, Kleenex, for my E-Coli poisoning.
I was reading another blog the other day, which recounted how their basement
was flooded.
Although we’ve had our share of water around my house, the closest I've ever
come to having water in my basement was a horrific incident almost solely
caused by the Kleenex company.
That’s right.
Flushable Wipes are the Devil.
…first…a bit of background…
I have two kids. My oldest daughter is 7 years old.
About 7-1/2 years ago, we were in the process of
building an addition to our house. This addition included
a ¾ bath.
The sewer pipes leading from this bathroom out to the
street wind through our basement, at a height
approximately 5 or 6 inches above my head.
If you do the math, you’ll find that my daughter was still
of that magical diaper age.
Yes...it's the age of wonder where every bodily function
ends up in a giant heap of stink smashed against their
bottoms...requiring parental intervention to mop up the
crime scene.
Kids, being what they are, don’t care where they crap or
pee. Typically, they’ll do this where and when you don’t
want them to, like – say – standing in line at the DMV
when you're next in line...and it now smells like the very
bowels of Hell have opened and YOU NEED TO CHANGE
YOUR KID NOW!!!
When a child poops in a diaper, it is akin to discovering a
body in the woods…and
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said body was dismembered by an army of poo-wielding chainsaw madmen.
There’s a hideous, horrifying stench.
…and there’s a magnificent, fantastical mess.
To quote my previous post, "Poo Marbles and Mona Lisa":
Baby poo is disgusting. Right out of the chute, baby poo resembles tar and
smells like - if I may be so bold - Armageddon. Once again, the Fifth Horseman
of the Apocalypse - Stinky - rears his ugly head.
Cleaning up this mess is not only an effort in intestinal fortitude…but it’s also a
bitch on the mellifluous odor of your house.
Because, unlike toilet paper…you can’t flush a diaper.
You have to find a "Diaper Genie" to store them.
...or throw them out...
...or hide them really well.
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But…then…we heard of the miracle of the Flushable Wipe.
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OH! Flushable Wipes!
It's a wipe!
It's FLUSHABLE!
Wipe the bum! Collect the poo! Flush it away!
(Just like what Daddy does with his poo…except his is much, much
larger...would take an entire container of wipes to clean...and (HEALTH
WARNING FOR PARENTS) may contain peanuts)
Anway...so we bought the Flushable Wipes.
..and we used them…
…and we flushed them…
But kids keep pooing.
So we used more.
…and flushed ‘em.
Until…one day…the Jed Clampett in me noticed that up from our new shower
came a’bubblin’ crude.
Poo that is. Brown Gold.…and some pee.
The sight of the brownish water floating in the bottom of our shower, along
with the flurry of little brown canoes, tipped me off.
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We had ourselves a clog
somewhere downstream from the
bathroom.
We figured that the problem had to
be the very slight slope of the
pipes. However, my contractor is
akin to a giant, so I try to not scold
him very often.
So we called a company who came
and cleared out the pipes for us
using a giant “Arm of Death”, and
gas masks. This arm thing was SO
COOL - it reminded me of a movie I
saw as a kid called "The Black
Hole" (not the same movie that I
have hidden elsewhere in my
house), and the evil robot had arms
JUST LIKE THIS.
For a minute, I wanted to be a
rooter.
Then I watched them work on poopy pipes. And the feeling left quickly.
Anyway, within an hour, the pipe was cleared.
Life went on.
And we kept wiping our daughter’s bum...
And flushing those damn wipes...
And sure as you know what….we got ourselves another little brown oasis in the
bottom of the shower after a while.
Sonofagun.
Now…I happened to be watching the Roto guy who came the last time. I watched him
intently...so I knew (KNEW) what I had to do...
I watched him enter our basement, and check the pipes leading above my head
snaking through the rooms.
He tapped on them…apparently checking that the immediate area was free and clear...
...then…
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…he opened them up.
On the corner of one of the pipes, where it took a bend, was a
plate that would open with the turn of a wrench, allowing you
to look inside.
At the time, after tapping on the pipes, he opened the plate and
could see where the clog was a little further down.
Piece of cake.
I went downstairs, armed with a wrench, a bucket, and my
faithful wife beside me...ready to clear the clog.
Raising the wrench to the plate just above my face, I began
turning.
…please note, at this point, that I neglected to tap on the pipe.
…which - unbeknownst to me - happened to be completely
backed up with poo...and pee...and God knows what else.
Had I tapped on the friggin' thing...things may have turned out
differently...but...
At about a quarter turn, the plate let go with the force of
several hundred gallons of sewage stopped upstream of it.
This plate plunked off of my forehead, before landing on the
ground.
…leaving me staring at a four-inch wide pipe hole…which was
now emptying it’s contents onto my face...think, the scene

hot Jennifer Beals covered in
water...you have a 5'2" guy
drowning in sewage.
So...HOT.
And there...watching me fight off
this torrent of poopy-caca...
My wife...laughing hysterically.
Like Ernest Borgnine fighting in
Poseidon...I'm screaming, "GET
THE PLUG!!! GET THE PLUG!!!"
It took three tries to get that damn
thing in.
...mainly because my wife was busy
crying from laughing so hard that
she was too busy to actually hand
me the damn plug.
Once we got things settled and got
the plumbers back, we were
advised of the following:
 You're not supposed to flush the
Flushable Wipes. They clog pipes.
Oh, they clog pipes, do they?
No sh*t.
You know how I know that, Mr.
Plumber? I know that because I
look like this:
Flushable wipes, my ass.
Flushable wipes that aren't
flushable.
Consider yourself warned.
WE KNOW WE HAVE A PROBLEM
SO WHAT IS THE NEXT STEP?
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MORE RESEARCH
DEVELOP PROTOCOLS FOR TESTING FLUSHABILITY OF PRODUCTS
DEVELOP BETTER METHODS FOR CLEARING BLOCKAGES
DEVELOP ALTERNATIVE DISPOSAL ROUTES FOR THESE PRODUCTS
EDUCATE THE PUBLIC
WORK WITH THE PRODUCT MANUFACTURERS
LEGISLATION AS A LAST RESORT
EXAMPLES
RESEARCH
Current Research Projects
Impact on the Drainage System from Disposable Products
Sustainability of Disposal Routes for Sanitary Products
DEVELOP TESTING PROTOCOLS
Current Protocol Development
Development of a Mathematical Model for Physical Disintegration of Flushable Consumer Products in Wastewater Systems
Protocols to Assess the Breakdown of Flushable Consumer Products-WERF Study
EDUCATION/CONSUMER OUTREACH
Television Commercials
Radio Commercials
Internet Websites
Flyers
Newspaper Articles
30 Second Television Commercial
60 SECOND RADIO ADVERTISEMENT
“Flushable” products
 “Flushable” means product goes down the
toilet and doesn’t clog on its way.
 Products can catch on rough surfaces inside
iron pipes and cause clogs.
 So-called “flushable” products may confuse
people into thinking all cloths, disposable or
not, are “flushable.”
 There are no truly “flushable” washcloths.
Brown S, To flush or not to flush; disposable vs. basin bath?, Healthcare Purchasing News, Sept 2004.
“Dispersible” products
 “Dispersible” means product dissolves
and becomes part of water flow.
 Toilet paper is dispersible.
 Sage Products’ Comfort® Personal
Cleansing products are not “flushable”
or “dispersible.”
Brown S, To flush or not to flush; disposable vs. basin bath?, Healthcare Purchasing News, Sept 2004.
Proper disposal
 DO NOT flush pre-moistened
washcloths, towels, diapers, etc.
 Flush toilet paper ONLY.
 Do not dispose of non-flushable items
in bedside commodes.
 Put non-flushable items in the trash.
Help protect our facility
 Flushing of non-flushable items can
cause serious plumbing problems.
 Proper disposal is critical to our facility’s
operations.
 All staff members need to work together
to encourage proper disposal.This is a
house-wide issue.
Educate patients and staff
 Talk to patients and family members
about proper disposal.
 When using a Comfort® Personal
Cleansing product, remind patients and
family members not to flush.
 Display educational materials in patient
rooms and bathrooms.
What are the Manufacturers Doing About This
Problem?
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Nothing. Business as usual.
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Some are manufacturing smaller sized wipes (they still don’t disperse). This
requires no new equipment or technology.
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Some, like Chlorox and SC Johnson, are actually developing a “new” flushable
spunlace wipe that have very low wet strength (half of a standard flushable).
These still are capable of hanging up on roots or in pumps or bar screens.
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Others like Kimberly-Clark have developed an actual dispersible wipe ( the
Cottonelle Rollwipe) using a reversible ionic bond for strength but which
disperses in the toilet.
Working With The Product Manufacturers
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INDA (Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry).
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EDANA (International association serving the nonwovens and related industries).
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In 2004 INDA formed a Flushability Task Force and embarked on a 2 year study to
develop standards and guidelines for assessing the flushability of products and to
develop a test method for the approach. Biggest hurdle was arriving at an agreed-to
definition of flushability.
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The Report entitled “WIPES-Nonwoven Industry Outlook-Trends and Forecasts for North
America 2008-2013” will be available shortly. You can order now at the ridiculously low
price of $3000 for non-members. No hint as what the report might say.
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Require warning labels on products, such as: “This product is NOT dispersible”. “This
product may cause clogs in obstructed drainlines”. “This product may clog ejector and
grinder pumps”. “This product will end up on a screen in the wastewater treatment
plant”.
LEGISLATION
 This problem is much larger than just a local or regional
issue. It probably will require national attention to address
a reasonable solution.
 National Associations such as the Water Environment
Research Federation (WERF), National Association of
Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), American Water Works
Association (AWWA) will have to get involved and lobby
heavily for new legislation.
REFERENCES
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Mental Poo Website Blog
Water Portfolio Website WRc
The Free Library by Farlex
The West Seattle Herald newspaper
SAGE Products, Inc.