Sewer systems in Miami are getting clogged due to those so-called flushable wipes.
After being flushed, the journey of your wipe starts with the pipes under your home, where Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD) crews use tiny robot cameras to get in and look for problems.
When the wipes are flushed they come into contact with grease in the pipes, which creates, in all reality, a rag. Rags are classified by WASD as items that do not break down in sewer water including paper towels, clothing, hair, female products, hygiene products, and wipes: both non-flushable and flushable.
Once the pipes become clogged, it can take up to five hours to unclog, taking time away from other tasks necessary to maintain the sewer systems.
If your wipe has not been caught by the time it gets to the pump station, it will end up at a wastewater treatment plant where the rags build up.
According to WASD, it costs about $200,000 a year just to haul the rags at the pump stations and treatment plants to the landfills, so they can be disposed of properly. Last year, WASD spent more than $525,000 to unclog more than 650 blockages within the thousands of miles of sewer lines. Add about $2.7 million dollars a year for labor, materials, and tools, and the total cost to deal with rags annually is about $3.5 million dollars.
Regardless if a wipe is flushable or not, they shouldn’t be flushed.
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