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Never Flush Wipes or Feminine Sanitary Products.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Don’t flush wipes of any kind or Feminine Sanitary products down your toilet! Regardless of what the label says, they can potentially damage your Flood Control Pump and plumbing systems.

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Flushing wipes or sanitary products may not cause an issue right away as they could go down the toilet just fine, without the need for a plunger. The problem comes later on, when the wipes and sanitary products navigate through your sewer system.  Many older sewer line are built of clay, concrete or iron pipes. All of these materials are very susceptible to the growth of tree roots over time. When roots enter your pipes they form a web which can trap materials that are trying to pass through. If you are flushing items such as wipes or other sanitary products that are non-degradable in the sewer, this can create clogs. Single Ply toilet paper usually doesn’t cause an issue because it dissolves quickly, which is why we recommend using single ply, especially to our residents with Flood Control Systems installed. 

Many toilet paper brands dissolve in minutes, so please do your research to find what will work best for your sewers. If you have a bigger household and are using thicker toilet paper there is a potential risk at creating a soft clog or blocking the water from passing through the valves out to the main sewer. 

However, paper towels, feminine hygiene products, and wet wipes can take weeks or even months to dissolve. This could result in a nasty and expensive clog because it could potential lead to needing a sewer repair.

If wet wipes get clogged up by the Flood Control pump, these fibrous wipes can damage and overheat the pumps which ultimately costs the homeowner to get a replacement.
We know what you are thinking… “well my brand is labeled “flushable”. In that case some brands are less fibrous and stringy than others, and therefore less likely to cause problems but why risk it? 
To prevent yourself from a costly repair, we recommend avoiding flushing all wipes, and other non-degradable products down your sewer.