Wipes & pipes
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When you flush, a stream of water goes from your toilet into your pipes.
The water then moves through municipal sewers that connect your home to a wastewater plant. Or, through local pipes to a local septic system (depending on where you live). Pumps, vents and manholes are other essential components of the sewerage system. Anything that makes pipes and sewers narrower, or clogs pumps, can lead to blockages. This can include wipes that are not suitable for flushing. Click on the links below to learn more about pipe blockages – and to find out what's the story with wipes? |
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Flushing the wrong things - what can happen?
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Whatever is flushed down the toilet meets up with waste from the kitchen, laundry and bathroom drains along the way. As it continues to travel towards the wastewater treatment plant, your household waste meets up with waste from other sources, which may include households, commercial premises and industrial sites. Anything that makes the pipes and sewers narrower can lead to blockages and has the potential to result in environmental spills. This includes physical items that cannot be carried by the water, or that stick together once in the pipes and do not break down. Fatbergs, for example, are lumps of grossness that form when solid, non-biodegradable materials combine with cooking fats that have cooled and solidified after being poured down the sink. |
A London monster!A fatberg weighing 130 tonnes – on par with a blue whale – and stretching 250 metres was found in a London sewer in 2017. It was made of fat, wipes, nappies and other solid items. A piece of the fatberg was displayed at the London Museum after drying and careful housing to prevent health risks. It has been described as “gift that keeps on giving” – flies emerge periodically as drain-fly larvae in the fat mature and fly out! |
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Ever had a blocked pipe at home?
And then there’s the plumbing bill to fix the issue!
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On a much larger scale, some water utilities in Australia and around the world have reported increased blockages in sewers and other wastewater infrastructure. This may mean increased costs for wastewater treatment and to deal with environmental spills, and may also limit the ability to treat and reuse wastewater.
Wipes in pipes – are they a problem?
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There is a strong case that wipes are a contributor to sewer blockages.
Sydney Water and Hunter Water estimate between 75%[i] and 80%[ii] of their sewer blockages involve flushed wet wipes, respectively. Each year, Sydney Water removes 500 tons of blockages from the network across the Illawarra, Blue Mountains and Sydney. And Australia's water service providers estimate an annual $15 million cost to clear blockages they say are largely caused by wet wipes.[iii] But is there any information on which types of wipes are responsible?
Is it a problem of flushable wipes not breaking down? Or, are people flushing wipes that were never intended to go down the toilet? |
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ACCC loses lawsuit alleging false or misleading ‘flushable’ wipes claims
In 2020, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) lost its appeal of a ruling that Kimberly-Clark did not mislead customers when it marketed its wipes as flushable (the lawsuit only concerned Kleenex Cottonelle toilet wipes, sold from May 2013 to May 2016.) The ACCC failed to prove that the wipes had caused or contributed to harm in domestic or municipal sewer systems, or that they presented a greater risk than toilet paper.
In its judgment, the Full Federal Court recognised the increasing problem posed by blockages and fatbergs caused by non-flushable products (including baby wipes, paper towels and feminine care products) as the main contributor. The Court suggested that legislation or standards could be developed to define what can and what cannot be marketed as ‘flushable’.
To that end, a standard for assessing 'flushability' is currently under development by Standards Australia. Input into this process is being provided by the Australian wastewater industry, wipes manufacturers and the cleaning products industry.
Source studies
Unpleasant as it may be, collecting and analysing the blockage material is the best way to find out what it is made of. To date, no collection point study data on Australian sewers has been published by local water authorities.
Unpleasant as it may be, collecting and analysing the blockage material is the best way to find out what it is made of. To date, no collection point study data on Australian sewers has been published by local water authorities.
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However, in 2017 the UK water authorities undertook a collection point study to find out more about the causes of their sewer blockages.[iv] They took 54 samples from sewer blockages, wastewater treatment works inlets and pumping station pump clogs.
What did they find? Non-flushable wipes accounted for the clear majority of recovered sewer blockage material. Baby wipes were the major identified item at every type of collection point. Flushable wipes were identified as a very minor contributor. 
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Types of wipes found in UK sewer blockages[iv]
* The ‘unidentified mass of wipes’ could not be untangled but the Report stated the majority appeared to be baby wipes and facial wipes
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Which wipes are blocking pipes in Australia?
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Baby wipes account for most wipes sales in Australia. In 2015, the value of baby wipes sales was greater than for household cleaning and all other moist wipes combined.[v] And there were over 18 times as many baby wipes as flushable wipes sold in 2017.[vi]
And, sewer blockage studies in the UK found non-flushable wipes (mostly baby wipes) to be the main material in the blockages. Let's put this all together All of this strongly suggests that, in Australia, people are flushing wipes – predominantly baby wipes – that should not be flushed. We need to be WipeSmart – using and disposing of wet wipes appropriately. |
Australian wipes retail sales 2015[v]
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References
[i] https://www.sydneywatertalk.com.au/wet-wipes (accessed 10 August 2018)
[ii] Gabriel Wingate-Pearse and Glen Humphries, 25 February 2016, “Fatbergs: One tonne balls of wet wipes and fat block sewers” (accessed 10 August 2018)
[iii] CHOICE 2016, “ ‘Flushable wipes block pipes”. https://www.choice.com.au/health-and-body/beauty-and-personal-care/skin-care-and-cosmetics/articles/flushable-wipes (accessed 16 August)
[iv] Water UK 2017, Wipes in sewer blockage study – Final report (accessed 16 November 2018)
[v] Retail World 2015 Annual Report
[vi] Nielsen Sales Data (reported at Standards Australia WS-041 meeting on 5/22/2018)
[i] https://www.sydneywatertalk.com.au/wet-wipes (accessed 10 August 2018)
[ii] Gabriel Wingate-Pearse and Glen Humphries, 25 February 2016, “Fatbergs: One tonne balls of wet wipes and fat block sewers” (accessed 10 August 2018)
[iii] CHOICE 2016, “ ‘Flushable wipes block pipes”. https://www.choice.com.au/health-and-body/beauty-and-personal-care/skin-care-and-cosmetics/articles/flushable-wipes (accessed 16 August)
[iv] Water UK 2017, Wipes in sewer blockage study – Final report (accessed 16 November 2018)
[v] Retail World 2015 Annual Report
[vi] Nielsen Sales Data (reported at Standards Australia WS-041 meeting on 5/22/2018)
