MNHQ here: what do you think about manufacturers marketing wipes as 'flushable'?

I don't flush baby wipes but I do you moist/flushable toilet paper/wipes and always flush them because I thought you were meant to! I wouldn't put them in the bathroom bin that's gross

Eastpoint those are storm outfalls. The sewage system takes all the water that flows down drains and the system has a capacity. Storm water just doesn't fit inside a sewage works, the volume and speed of flow is too great.

Another reason to think before you flush.

I would support such a campaign. I've helped Thames21 clear ups & there are always loads of wipes on the foreshore. When there is heavy rainfall the sewerage system gets overloaded & waste gets washed into the Thames & then out to sea. Lovely.

Nicecleanbum, either don't use them and live with an unsterile bum, or yes have a bin for them. Plenty of countries don't allow toilet paper down the loo and provide bins for that.

OK, those with a sensitive disposition stop reading. I have worked in the water industry. It's quite an eye opener. I haven't had a tummy bug in years

It's not just about drainage, although that is important. Wipes can and do cause pipe blockages which are expensive to fix.

Waste water treatment takes the foul water in and discharges clean water ar the other end. There are lots of designs for a waste water treatment works. Essentially though they work by screening off the 'solids' and then cleaning up the foul water remaining.

Screens get blocked too. Which costs money. The resulting solids also need to be dealt with, which also costs money. If the solids are all organic matter (ie poo and paper) , there are ways to deal with it. Plastics further complicate the matter.

Sewage treatment is necessary and has to be paid for. I for one am glad we no longer dump it at sea and long sea outfalls (and their variations ) are regulated. I like clean beaches.

If we insist on flushing items clearly labelled nonflushable (eg tampons) we pay for that in out water bills. The water companies deal with the results of wipes in the sewage system daily. They say don't flush. We do, it costs money, that affects us through our bills.

A little personal responsibility goes along way. Yes nicecleambum that includes taking responsibility for your own shit.

I have NCd for this (obviously) as it seems I am a lone voice on this thread.

Our family uses flushable wipes (but only thin ones), because, quite frankly, if you are only using dry paper to wipe yourself after a bowel movement, then you are not clean.

I think a far better campaign would be to improve the drainage system (not very likely!), or make wipes thinner so they are not as bulky (more likely) and can pass through the system more easily.

Those of you saying don't flush them - what exactly are you meant to do with them? I'm not going to have a bin in my toilet for poo-covered wipes!!!

It's hard not to offer support to a campaign like this, and I do support it because of the importance of raising awareness of any issue which directly or impacts the environment.

However, Water Companies in the UK make huge profits and are not good at reinvesting their profits back into maintaining an adequate infrastructure, unless compelled to by Ofwat. Since privatisation in the 1980s they have kept stripping back on their operating costs to such an extent they did not have enough operatives draining cleaning, getting rid of fat build-up and de-ragging as they did in the past. All done to ensure shareholders benefit from increasing profits. They are now mainly now foreign-owned companies and pay little UK tax.

How about them funding their own campaign and using their collective clout with Ofwat to urge the Govt to put pressure on the Companies that produce these wipes? I do hope they are paying you MNHQ for your efforts on this issue?

For the record, I worked in the water industry for 20 years and more recently as a customer been on the receiving end of their poor customer service and lack of investment in our local sewage pumping station and main sewer which regularly causes sewage flooding on our property.

Ick, definitely shouldn't be flushed or marketed as such.

We use wipes occasionally, but they aren't flushed, and normal practice here is to use washable cloth wipes.

Likewise kitchen roll... what's wrong with a good hot cloth?!

Some people have even ditched loo roll for washable 'family cloth' but I can't quite bring myself to do that, if I lived alone maybe but I don't think I could begin to convince hubby, or guests

Anyway, definitely shouldn't be marketed as flushable!

If it does not break up when soaked in water them yes it is just as bad.

Quick question: is kitchen roll as bad as wipes?

Yep. I was suckered into this about 10 years ago when my casually flushed wipes erupted into my neighbors garden. Mortified.

Yeah my drains clogged and the bloke who cleared them told me not to use flushable wipes anymore. (Turns out DP was puttint kitchen roll and all sorts down the bog )

Definitely!

I was in a classroom a few years ago and the yr 6's had a science project on display with bottles of water with various "flushable" items. Food representing faeces, tissue, paper towel, baby wipes

I was shocked at what was marketed as or regularly flushed but is absolutely not suitable.

It sounds, for some people at least, as if there's also a question to be asked about whether they need to use them in the first place?

We've twice called out dynorod after our drain backed up. Both times the chap blamed "baby wipes" - the first time, neighbours both sides of us had babies so we were cursing them. The second time, the penny dropped that H was flushing the Andrex wet wipes he insists on using.

Wipes of any type should not be flushed. Packaging should be changed to make this clear, and adverts too.

I guess you'll be strongly advising future guests about the non-use of wipes then?

Just paid £200 for our pumping station to be fixed after a guest used baby wipes/'washable' wet wipe things whilst here.

I've been struck by how many people posting here simply had no idea about the issues. That strikes me as an ideal situation for a campaign by Mumsnet. Inform members properly and let them make their own choices on the basis of better information?

Yes please. Great idea.

Thought there had been court cases in the US about this.

Yes please. After a talk by a SevernTrent (local water company) speaker to our library group I've been telling all and sundry NOT to flush wipes (or tissues or fat). It is so misleading to put 'Flushable' on the packets of wipes. The speaker spelt it out that it meant the wipes had been flushed successfully down an old style high cistern with chain lavatory.
The sooner the manufacturers stop this iniquitous behaviour the better.

I have to confess I flushed a terry nappy once ...rinsing the poo off in the flush and it slipped out of my hand ... was panic stricken waiting for a blockage for weeks but apparently it was ok...
I think we need to move away from all disposable wipes full stop with their extra plastic packaging and manufacturing costs - and even not flushed they are going to end up in landfill. So I would support a campaign especially as I suspect it would reduce usage.
Our sewage used to be piped out to the sea not treated and I used to go to local beaches/bays that caught certain tides and were strewn with the plastic backing from sanitary towels etc - not many wipes as they weren't so popular at the time - (condoms too...another thing that gets flushed that shouldn't be) - if you had seen that you would be really careful about what you flushed - it really was disgusting. Now it is treated we don't get that any more but I can imagine what the treatment plant are dealing with.
I also wouldn't use the super thick luxury loo roll either.
DP had a restaurant in a building with ancient pipework and after the first few months we got a blockage. We thought it was just maybe a build up over time, had them jetted only to get another a few months later so they put a camera down and discovered that it was just loo roll. We downgraded paper - not to value just less luxurious...

For those that complain that it's our sewerage system that's at fault for not pandering to our disposable lifestyle coping with non-degradable products being flushed down the loo : don't ever go to Greece. There you can't even put loo paper down the loo!

Well done, Thora.

How shall you be explaining the change to the DCs?

I think it's criminal that they are marketed as flushable so that people think it's just like a bit of loo paper. I use moist loo paper and bin it, rather than flushing it, since I heard that the sewers can't cope with it. I think most people don't realise this.

I didn't realise they don't break down either. We usually have them because the children like using them, but I won't be buying any more.