Your Toilet Is Not a Trash Can, Says Local Utility in Campaign

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission has a frank message for its customers. 

Ready? The toilet is not a trash can, and the only thing that should be flushed are bodily waste and toilet paper. That’s the message the WSSC is driving home with the release of a video that stresses, "Keep the Wipes Out of the Pipes."

Pre-moistened bathroom wipes are labeled and marketed as “flushable,” but many are not and they are a major contributor to basement back-ups and sewer overflows, the commission says.

“In this country we not only take our wastewater systems for granted, but also abuse them by putting things down toilets that just don’t belong,” says Jerry Johnson, WSSC’s General Manager and CEO in a news release. “We need to educate people about what they can and can’t put down the toilet because they lead to backups that jeopardize the health of fellow citizens.”

Consumer Reports found that so-called flushable wipes were intact after 30 minutes in water, while toilet paper disintegrated within eight seconds, the release said. In Vancouver, Washington, wipes dyed by wastewater officials survived a one-mile journey through the sewer.

Wastewater experts are trying to calculate the size and cost of the problem nationally. WSSC has spent more than $1 million on new equipment to grind up wipes before they snarl pumps

But local authorities said they need everyone to think before flushing. Wet wipes, baby wipes, feminine products, paper towels and cigarettes should go in a waste basket, never down the toilet.