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In a report based on testing of 101 single-use wipes, 23 of which were labeled as 'flushable', not a single wipe successfully dispersed or fell apart in the sewer system test.
Testing was performed by the Ryerson's Flushability Lab.
Products which fail the test can clog or degrade household pipes and city sewer systems.
"This research confirms conclusively what those of us in the industry already knew. That single-use wipes, including cleansing and diaper wipes, cannot be safely flushed, even those labelled as 'flushable,'" said report lead Barry Orr, masters student in Environmental Applied Science and Management, and a 25-year veteran Sewer Outreach and Control Inspector with the City of London in Ontario, Canada.
Testing on each wipe was performed by simulating a typical residence's plumbing from toilet to sewer including typical bends and slope, water pressure, and urban infrastructure.
the Municipal Enforcement Sewer Use Group has estimated that $250 million is spent annually across Canada for operations and maintenance related to the removal of blockages from equipment, due to the flushing of wipes and other non-flushable materials. Many of these wipes also contain synthetic fibres, including plastics, which can make their way into waterways, harming water systems and wildlife.
Orr called for a standard legislated industry-wide definition for the term 'flushable' so that consumers could be informed and make appropriate decisions for their health and to avoid various harms being caused by the term's misleading use today.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday April 11 2019, @01:54PM (4 children)
There are alternatives to toilet paper and wipes. The French use bidets. They're weird to use at first, but they are effective. In college when our apartment ran out and couldn't manage to steal rolls from campus bathrooms our filipino roommate used a big gulp cup full of water and his hand. When we looked askance at him he chided us for using toilet paper, which never cleans as well. Ancient Romans used sponges on sticks. Muslims use their left hands.
We could also treat our effluent differently than we do, if clogs are the problem. There are outhouses and self-composting toilets. We could reconfigure our sewer systems to recover the waste, because it's valuable fertilizer. If we shipped the stuff to the Sahara and spread it around it would quickly revert to the veldt it once was. In fact we could use it to create much more arable land to feed the world's burgeoning population.
Just some thoughts.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday April 11 2019, @02:44PM (2 children)
It is also trivially easy, and relatively inexpensive to put a hand held shower massage into a shower. The most minimalist of these have two settings. A regular shower head type spray, and then a tight narrow higher pressure spray which is, um, like a water pic for everything below the waist.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 12 2019, @03:51AM (1 child)
Many Muslim and Asian countries use Bidet Showers [wikipedia.org]. Not only do they satisfy their various religious and cultural restrictions, but they are much nicer on the sewer systems.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 13 2019, @01:29AM
Interesting, had not seen a "bidet shower" before. Nothing in the Wiki link about water temperature, if it's typical domestic cold water that could be quite a shock to the user...
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday April 11 2019, @10:26PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves