The MD of Greenview is reminding residents to not flush disinfectant wipes down the drain after a recent sewer blockage had repair crews working for more than eight hours to clear the lines. Manager of Environmental Services Gary Couch says one of the biggest issues they face with non-flushables is potentially misleading labels.
“It says they’re flushable; it just means they’ll fit in the toilet. Anything is flushable, including a Ford pickup; if you cut it into small enough pieces you can flush it down the toilet.”
Couch says the only things that will break down within the pipes are toilet paper and Kleenex, and quite simply nothing else other than human waste should make its way through the system. He adds that residents must be aware of what they’re putting into the system, as it could not only take hours to fix, but they may be slapped with the costs associated with the repairs.
“If it’s found to be on your property, or it’s off your property, not in the main, and you’re believed to be the cause, you can still be held liable for the cost, because it didn’t get into that service line by coming upstream,” he explains.
He adds that even if the perpetrator doesn’t get caught in the act, the cost eventually goes back to the taxpayer because that’s who ends up paying the wages of the workers sent to clean up the mess.