Flushed Tidy-Tush Wipes Are Becoming Sewer Glob Monstrosities

CHARLESTON, SC — Those pristine wet wipes that promise to tidy your tush seem innocent enough. They often come in blue or white packages and encourage you to treat yourself because, well, you deserve better than toilet paper. Best of all, you're told, these wet wipes break down when you flush them.

But here's the problem: While wet wipes may leave your behind sparkly clean, not all break down in sewer systems. Rather, they congeal and morph into gigantic, black, oily monstrosities that look more like they belong in a Stephen King film than anywhere near any city.

No one knows that better than the "hero" divers at the Charleston Water System in South Carolina, who plunged through 80 feet of pitch-black raw sewage to break apart a 2,000-pound behemoth made up of wet wipes and other detritus unwisely flushed down toilets.

Charleston is no stranger to the blobs. The last time they removed one was in 2014. But it's becoming more and more common, with London and Baltimore both seeing them just last year. And those are just the ones we know about.

In the latest incident, the utility noticed sewage levels in its pump station at the Plum Island Wastewater Treatment Plant began to rise at an alarming pace. Workers immediately sprang into emergency action to stop the rise and buy time to find out what, exactly, was happening. Time was of the essence.

"If the pump doesn't work, the sewage doesn't stop coming," utility communications manager Mike Saia told Patch. "It would overflow."

This could lead to a massive spill and possibly damage the environment. Quick-thinking staff averted disaster by using different pumps and lines to reroute sewage around the blockage and into the treatment plant. The utility then worked around-the-clock for two days to prepare divers to go into the wet well.

"You never know exactly what it is until you literally lay your hands on it," said Saia.

Divers dressed in orange and yellow hazardous materials suits plunged about 80 feet into total darkness. They had to feel around by hand to find out what was behind the blockage, Saia said.

They found a familiar foe.

"It was a very large mass of wipes, probably exceeding 2,000-pounds in total. It took bringing many, many loads to the surface to finally clear the obstruction, free the pumps and allow us to return to normal operations," he said.

The mass of wipes, which had bound together, stretched 12-feet long and about 36 inches wide. All told, they made up 70 percent of the blockage.Divers finished clearing out the debris masses Tuesday and were treated with a "refreshing bleach bath," following the "nice long swim."

None of the system's infrastructure was damaged, but normal operations didn't continue until several days later. The governmental entity issued a cheeky message for residents and the world — those "flushable" wet wipes you're sending down the toilet aren't so flushable after all.

"Don't flush stuff like this. Joking of course, but you should only flush #1, #2, and toilet paper. The photo looking down into a pool of wastewater shows many other non-flushables."

Also among the debris — a baseball and a large piece of metal.

The utility also posted more photos of massive glob monstrosities they've encountered over the years.

London also had one last year that dwarfed Charleston's. That "fatberg," as it was called, consisted of congealed fat, wet wipes, oil and condoms. It stretched about 250 meters long — longer than the Tower Bridge — and weighed about 286,000 pounds. Thames Water officials at the time described it as a "total monster."

London has fatbergs because the fats in its sewer system have plenty of time to congeal and bind with the wipes, Saia said.

"Their tunnels are much larger than ours," he noted.

Baltimore also had a "fatberg" in its sewer systems last year, made out of congealed fat, wet wipes and other items that don't break down. The massive plug of grease grew far beneath the surface in a midtown sewer main near Baltimore Penn Station. It eventually caused a dry-weather sewer overflow, discharging nearly 1.2 million gallons.

Charleston's sewer system struggles with the blobs because of its topography — it's very flat. Sewage is sent from one pump station to another so that gravity can propel it to its final destination — a wastewater treatment plant. Those stations each have tools to remove wipes, but many still get through and foul the pumps.

Oftentimes one or two wipes snowballs into 50 or 100 before eventually reaching the thousands.
"All of a sudden you have a large mass," said Saia. In this situation, the mass broke free from a pump station and traveled through a deep tunnel all the way to the treatment plant.

Wet wipe globs have become such a nuisance, in fact, that there's even a class-action lawsuit on behalf of customers who bought "flushable" wipes products and were allegedly deceived. The suit, filed by the firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, alleges these products "are not, despite labeling that states otherwise, flushable at all."

"Instead, these products clog and damage plumbing pipes and drains, rendering the products not only functionally worthless, but also costly," the firm said on its website. "Consumers who purchased these products are forced to pay for repairs to their plumbing systems as a result of using these products."

Defendants in the case include Costco, Kimberly-Clark and CVS.

Saia noted some brands that market their wipes as flushable also have a warning on the package that say "do not flush."

"There's many, many examples of that," he said.

As for what should be flushed away? Keep it to human waste and toilet paper. Everything else should go in the trash can.

Photos credit: Charleston Water System