The list of uses for baby wipes goes way beyond just wiping your little one’s butt. People use them to take off makeup, remove stains on your pants, take pet hair off your clothing and even to clean the sink.
It’s not so much about what you use them for but more about what you do after you use them. Do they end up in the trash or do you just chuck them into the toilet and flush them?
If you’ve used them you know how durable baby wipes can be, however, they are not made of the same material as toilet paper. Wipes are made up of non-woven fabric, the same fabric found in diapers and dryer sheets.
It’s true some packages say the wipes are “flushable” don’t be fooled.
Even those have fibers that can clog sewer systems.
Officials in Charleston, South Carolina uncovered some nasty shots of what was clogging their sewer system.
When portions of the sewer system were not working efficiently, they had to send divers to get to the root of the problem.
A team had to dive 80 to 90 feet into raw sewage to find the reason for the clog and then clear the obstruction. Pictures are not for those with weak stomachs.
What they recovered in the sewer was a huge mass of disposable baby wipes.
Charleston Water sent out a series of tweets to address this issue with residents.
Even though this is a serious matter, they tried using humor to get the word out.
While the wipes are shocking to everyone stranger yet were some of the other items they uncovered inside the heap of goo.
“They also found a baseball and a big piece of metal. Don’t flush stuff like this. Joking of course, but you should only flush #1, #2, and toilet paper.”
They also found a baseball and a big piece of metal. Don't flush stuff like this. Joking of course, but you should only flush #1, #2, and toilet paper. The photo looking down into a pool of wastewater shows many other non-flushables. We made this pic low-res for your benefit. pic.twitter.com/fInq5YWU5a
— Charleston Water (@ChasWaterSystem) October 15, 2018
“It boils down to the fact that ‘flushable’ wipes simply are not flushable. They may degrade over time and they may go down your toilet, but they certainly will block up the plumbing in your home, and wreak a lot of havoc in our system, so we would really appreciate any change that people could make.”
BREAKING NEWS! Our super-duper high tech lab folks just developed an incredible new space-age wipe that is truly "flushable" and GUARANTEED to break down before you even flush it. Find this innovative product in retail stores nationwide starting today! pic.twitter.com/OkYokHIFis
— Charleston Water (@ChasWaterSystem) October 17, 2018
There are five other surprising items that should only be tossed into a trash can and not down the toilet.
1. Dental Floss
Floss is not biodegradable and will easily wrap itself inside and around pipes and other objects, which could result in a massive clog.
2. Hair
Like floss, hair does not dissolve in water entangling itself in anything around so whether it’s a strand of hair or an entire hairball, you should always throw it into the trash.
3. Medication
We’ve known and heard about this for a while now that prescription medication contaminates fresh water supplies and can affect people as well as wildlife.
4. Paper Towels & Tissues
These pieces of tissue are made of stronger material and are not designed to break down the way toilet paper does.
5. Gum
Your mother probably told you many times in your life that if you swallowed gum it would take 7 years for it to digest. Ok so that isn’t true but it isn’t the easiest thing to break down in water.
Share this post to warn others and raise awareness.
