Posted on 10/17/2018 6:33:25 PM PDT by RightGeek
AMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) - Workers at the Charleston Water System Plum Island Facility had their hands full over the weekend when the system was clogged by a massive amount of wipes.
"It took a few days for us to get divers in here to actually dive down about 80 feet into raw sewage with their bare hands and feel around in total darkness," said Mike Saia, Communications Manager, Charleston Water System.
Those divers found mounds and mounds of flushed wipes. They clogged the system and caused a huge backup. While the system is clear now, there are still wipes around the facility from the overflow.
"They might do a lot of damage inside your home to your plumbing. They definitely do a lot of damage when they make their way through our infrastructure," said Saia.
When a wipe disappears down a toilet, so does your money. Maintenance is tied into your water rate and it costs a lot to clean messes like this.
One of the divers says going down into the wells is a big task.
"When you get down to the bottom, you can't see anything, everything is done by feel," said diver John Lares.
It's a lot of trouble that can be prevented by just throwing your wipes away.
....
(Excerpt) Read more at counton2.com ...
Rowe did a septic tank, and followed the honey truck to its destination - a large, gently sloping “bowl”-like concrete layout.
Truck gets emptied, the stuff left to drain and dry, and a bulldozer or frontloader takes care of leavings.
What wasn’t clear when I saw this story earlier was whether the wipes were considered “flushable” or if these are wipes that are not the flushable type. My understanding was that flushable wipes disintegrate when flushed, just like toilet paper.
Cinco de Mayo, pal! Tip your waiter (and keep the buttwipes out of the head).
I have the Toto washlet (expensive) downstairs and a manual bidet (cheap) upstairs. I prefer the manual. BUT I love the auto-raise lid and seat on the Toto. Don’t need wipes and use very little toilet paper.
What you are describing is not a septic tank. It is a storage tank/transfer pump. Live like you are on a city sanitary sewer, except do not flush wipes and do not flush feminine hygiene products.
There should be a nameplate somewhere on the system. Look on the control panel. Most companies have web sites these days and you can probably find instructions there. If not, look up the company and call them for a set of instructions.
I work at a hospital.they have banned these wipes after a three million dollar sewer clog.
3 sea shells :)
“According to a friend with a plumbing business the ones that are supposed to be OK to flush are making him rich.”
.
.
.
For the residential plumbing end of our company, rodding had probably tripled over the last 6 years. From doing 2 calls a day to now having a dedicated 2 man crew who do 6-8 calls a day. 90% of the time it is a build up paper products. Usually flush-able wipes, but also for some reason the rodding crew says more and more people are flushing panty liners and other feminine products. Many customers are repeat customers, for the same exact problem.
(and we know they are flush-able wipes, because the crew will always ask the home-owner “do you use flushable wipes?)
But, I wouldn’t say our company gets rich off of drain rodding, it is really just a service that we must provide to residential customers. It runs about $150-$250 for a basic straight run to the main-line. We drop a camera first, always for iron or clay pipe, and usually for plastic as well. After paying manpower cost, truck, insurance, windshield time, you know the whole bit, I wouldn’t necessarily call that crew a “profit center”. Plus, 1/4 of the calls are in off-hours so we have to pay premium pay for those hours to the crew. So, each call is 2-3 hours, and we bill out less than $100 an hour. Not exactly “mad money”, and it costs us about $100 an hour for every hour that truck is in operation.
Kind of like lighting pilot lights... we do it, but it really makes us no money, even at $80 a call (and we don’t charge many folks, especially older folks).
They use bigger pipes and plenty of water in Europe and you can flush those mice! When I came back here and lived in a typical old SoCal house, I learned really quick that our plumbing can’t handle the “mice”!
My brother’s plumber told him coffee grinds that get washed down the drain cause a lot of problems as the coffee never degrades. I put ours in the compost, but I have a hard time believing that old coffee grinds are all that bad. Although my brother is on septic - so maybe it messes with that?
I use Costco Baby Wipes when I’m out working to clean my hands. They are really tough and great for that kind of stuff. I ran out and bought some Huggy’s brand on an out-of-town job. They fell apart with the first wipe trying to get some stuff off my hands! They might be okay for a baby’s butt, but not for general cleaning.
Back in the day we had one bucket for the cloth diapers, and another for the wipes. Really odd how so many folks think it is okay to flush that stuff down the toilet.
I was wondering what kind of commercial diver didn’t wear gloves.
Blame it on the wipes - as if they haven’t been dealing with pads and tampons for decades....
What model seat are you using?
That is the definition of bad system design. Or, are you still looking for a place to screw in your fuses?
One has to change with the times. The billion wipes sold were not a very well kept secret. And, they work well, are useful and people like them.
I’m not likely to let a plumber tell me how or how not to wipe my own ass.
Well, Sears catalogs are no more, so what are you going to do?
obammawipes float
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.