26 September 2023

Water wise advice is to wipe flushing wipes

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Icon Water has launched a fun-based drain care campaign that comes with a serious message.

Managing Director of Icon Water, Ray Hezkial said the utility’s Free the Poo campaign asks Canberrans to think carefully about what they put down the drain or flush down the toilet.

“The message is simple, help us ‘free the poo’ so it flows to our treatment plant instead of being blocked up, or worse, flowing back to you,” Mr Hezkial said.

“With Free the Poo, we especially hope to decrease the number of wet wipes being flushed down Canberra’s toilets,” he said.

“We often don’t consider what’s happening below ground until we have to face the gross consequences above the ground, like a sewage overflow.”

Mr Hezkial said wet wipes were more like cloth than toilet paper and, unlike toilet paper, were not built to break down under water.

He said wet wipes flushed down the toilet can cause disruption and blockages at every stage of Icon Water’s treatment process.

“Only the 3Ps should be flushed down the toilet – pee, poo and (toilet) paper,” he said.

Mr Hezkial said Canberra had recently been ranked as one of the worst Australian cities when it came to total sewer main breaks and chokes per 100 km of pipes.

He said the roots of Canberra’s trees regularly crept into sewerage pipes in search of water, which caused a significant number of blockages when wet wipes got caught or entangled with the tree roots.

“Clearing a blockage involves our hard-working team of ‘Blockage Busters’ getting down in the sewer and manually tearing apart huge clumps of rubbish, mostly made up of wet wipes,” he said.

“Not only is this physically unpleasant for our staff, but it also causes significant disruptions to the lives of Canberrans and is ultimately costly for our community,” Mr Hezkial said.

Further information on Icon Water’s campaign can be accessed at this PS News link.

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