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

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

We've been contacted by a major utilities company asking Mumsnet to throw its weight behind a campaign it's running on the marketing of 'flushable' wet wipes and 'moist' toilet tissue.

The organisation that's contacted us says that 80% of all sewer blockages are the result of sewer misuse, and that 70% of these blockages are the result of wet wipes. They want manufacturers to stop being able to label wipes as being 'flushable'.

They are going to write to the Advertising Standards Authority complaining that consumers are being misled by the packaging and claims on many of these products. They say consumers are encouraged to believe that these products break down harmlessly when flushed - whereas in truth, they don't break down after flushing and can end up causing blocks, leaks and flooding.

We know from previous conversations about tampons and sanpro that MNers tend to be stalwart defenders of the public sewage system, so we said we'd ask you whether this was a campaign you'd like us to swing behind.

As ever, it would be great to hear what you think.

Thanks
MNHQ

[cozietoesie]

You were misled, Magrats, as have been many many others.

Don't feel sick. Just spread the word.

[Shouldwebeworried]

There needs to be a massive educational drive to stop people flushing all sorts of things. The amount of places you see notices telling people not to flush blue paper towels/ sanitary items/ wipes etc is ridiculous.
Companies should not be allowed to market/label items as flushable when they can cause blockages in the sewer system and they should be charged for the problems they cause if they continue to do so.

[cozietoesie]

I seem to recall a statistic (quoted in some article) that their use has been going up by 15% a year recently? I'll stand to be corrected on that one but if approximately true, that's a big burden going into our sewers.

[MagratsFlyawayHair]

Thanks Cosie. I will definitely spread the word. I've been telling people not to drain fat down the sink for years!

[GreenDragon1]

I also agree that the wipes shouldn't be labelled as flushable. We had a horribly blocked drain which was solely due to Kandoo wipes, which the packet said were flushable. The wipes had caught on the corners of the drains and then all stuck together, causing the drains to block.

As you can imagine, it was really not very nice! We managed to unblock it ourselves thanks to my dad having drain rods, but there was over 30m of blocked drain to unblock with 3 drain covers all blocked, and we had blocked our neighbours drain as well. There were quite a few bin bags of just wipes, they obviously hadn't been flushing for a long while as we only used 1 or 2 a day.

After that I have never bought wipes again, toilet roll works just as well.

[cozietoesie]

You were lucky that your Dad had rods, Green. And that the blockage wasn't so impacted that it needed something like pickaxes to tackle it.

A surprisingly large number of posters have reported sewage blockages etc which affected them, recently. I wonder how widespread that is?

[ReadyPlayerOne]

At work we've pulled all manner of things out of drains, but wipes are one of the most common. It just takes one of them to snag in a pipe for a build up to start and then soon you're in trouble.

[GreenDragon1]

It was very lucky that we had rods Cozietoesie. It took all day to unblock the drains as it was so solidly packed in, it would have cost a fortune if we had had to call someone out.

[cozietoesie]

If you had had to call officialdom, they might well have just decided it wasn't worth the candle and had the ground up to replace the whole sewer. Either way, Yes - the bill would have been horrible.

[cozietoesie]

A cautionary tale, Ready. Has work taken a stance on disposal by staff, including wipes?

[JJJHeimerSchmidt]

MNHQ you might be interested in this:

nappysciencegang.wordpress.com/flushable/shake-it/

This group has been running experiments to verify some of the claims in the cloth nappy community. Flushability of nappy liners being one of them. None of the nappy liners have broken down in the experiments so far.

The group also had a chat with Emma McColm from LOVEMyBEACH, who talked about why keeping the sewers clear of wipes is important from a greater environment prospective:

nappysciencegang.wordpress.com/2015/11/13/live-chat-with-emma-from-lovemybeach/

And then there are videos on YouTube of flushability experiments similar to what NSG members were doing, but with machines and under more controlled conditions:

There doesn't seem to be any evidence that flushable wipes are safe for drains. Considering a normal user (like me) would expect them to disintegrate in the sewer system, rather than create clogs.

[MrsNutella]

scmidt that's exactly the link I was going to look for. Thank you!

Drawing LL and lots of others have changed the name of their liner to "disposable".

Right... I'm going to have to talk to DH about "family cloth". I don't know if I like the idea of not myself which is stupid since I am a huge cloth nappy fan.

Otherwise, I fully support MN in the campaign.

[cozietoesie]

Thanks JJJ. Interesting.

The 'flushability' tests look real easy, cheap and low tech. The sort of thing that anyone reading could do if they're having doubts?

[TheNewStatesman]

Always amazed that so many people don't know about this, but I think it makes a difference when you have travelled to countries with really dicky plumbing. In much of the world you can't even flush regular toilet paper, let alone sturdy wipes. You have to put your regular paper in a box by the loo. It would never occur to me to flush anything thicker than toilet paper.

Yes, a campaign is a good idea. Why should everyone be stuck with higher utilities bills fixing all these problems? Not to mention public toilets being out of action, which causes problems for other women especially in the form of longer queues.

[RaisingSteam]

The thing is you could bin your paper/nonwoven nappy liner and its "contents" - that's still less to landfill than an entire paper nappy.

honestly since having a dog my tolerance of what goes in the dustbin has completely changed.

[cozietoesie]

My understanding from what I've read is that 'flushables' which don't disintegrate - those that don't snag and contribute to blockages, anyway - still go to landfill, just that they're screened at, and sent from, the sewage processing plants.

Can anybody clarify that one?

[prettybird]

Only if they get to the sewage plant - and haven't as is likely caused a blockage on the way there.

That's the whole point of all the examples of people talking about local blockages and the bigger blockages described in main sewer pipes.

[RaisingSteam]

Yes I expect the coarse screened stuff goes to landfill. Not very joined up thinking at this time of night. The other sludge is treated to make fertiliser or something.

[cozietoesie]

Thanks both.,Those points are what I was thinking in relation to anybody worried about increasing landfill by not flushing them.

It strikes me that people should be considering whether they need to use them in the first place and only thinking about 'flushability' as a secondary thing.

[RaisingSteam]

I wonder if they are like sky lanterns- a product that initially seems a good idea/harmless but it's become obvious they are a menace to the built and natural environment and should be promptly banned.

[RustyBear]

And the plastic 'microbeads' in shower gels and other products, which haven't been around long but have already caused water pollution. They are already banned in several US states and beginning to be phased out or replaced by natural alternatives.

[cozietoesie]

Are Mumsnet to give support to the campaign then?

[RowanMumsnet]

@cozietoesie

Are Mumsnet to give support to the campaign then?

Having read the thread, I think that's a 'yes'

We'll let the company know that we're happy to co-sign their letter - and we'll also have a think about what else we can do to spread the word.

Thanks very much for all your thoughts!

[cozietoesie]

Good.

Thanks, Rowan.

[tilder]

Thank you Rowan.