With consumers snatching up every roll of toilet paper available, public agencies may face problems from residents flushing toilet paper substitutes.
The city of Vancouver says wastewater treatment providers nationwide are bracing for potential sewage blockages and overflows from an uptick in residents flushing napkins, anti-bacterial wipes and other items because of the coronavirus.
Those items should be placed in the garbage, not flushed down the toilet. Some contain tough nonwoven fibers that don’t break down the same way as toilet tissue.
“We have not detected an increase in wipes at this time, but we are extremely concerned,” Frank Dick, Vancouver wastewater engineering supervisor, said in a statement. “We are already spending a great amount of time and resources to remove large masses of wipes and nonwoven paper products from sewer pump stations and wastewater treatment facilities. The potential for an increase in these materials being flushed into the system now is enormous.”
