Plumbing issues on the rise as more wipes, paper towels are found in sewer system
Coachella Valley Water District is urging customers to be careful and pay attention to what they are flushing down the toilet. The district said they have seen an influx of items other than toilet paper that have been flushed down the drain.
"We’re sort of speculating that this is COVID-related-- that because people went and started stockpiling toilet paper, toilet paper was in a shortage, more people are using wipes and that’s probably why this is happening," Coachella Valley Water District Director of Communications and Conservation, Katie Evans said.
Items like paper towels, flushable wipes and even disinfectant wipes have been found at the district's treatment plant.
"What has increased is the drain calls- that’s for sure," Tommy Rooter Plumbing owner, Thomas Clarke said.
"A lot of these people still have toilet paper in their house, they’re just so afraid of running out of toilet paper. They’re willing to use things that aren’t supposed to be flushed down the toilet and that’s causing some major issues for us," Clarke said.
Clarke said he has even come across people using restaurant napkins in place of toilet paper.
"Regular toilet paper is designed to fall apart, and allow it to flush normally. It goes down the drains, and it just falls apart. Paper towels aren’t designed to do that. They're supposed to stay together," Clarke said.
Flushable wipes have also become a culprit showing up in drains.
"The packaging does say flushable and they are flushable in the sense that if you put it in the toilet and flush it, it will flush but that does not make it good for the system," Evans said.
These types of items could potentially clog the sewer system.
"It could create clogs in the sewer pipelines that are running under the street which would be a huge problem. We’d have to cut into the streets, cut those clogs out of the pipes and put new piping in," Evans said.
Meanwhile, if residents were to run into similar problems back at home it could be costly.
"That could get into the several hundreds, even thousands of dollars depending on the severity of the clog," Clarke said.
The issue has one simple solution.
"You should only be flushing human waste and toilet paper," Evans said.
