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Improper Disposal Causes Expensive Cleanup
We live in a
society where everything is flushed down the drain. To make life easier
and more convenient, we discard everything from the wipes used in and
around the home for cleaning, paper towels, the new and improved
flushable toilet bowl cleaning brushes, feminine hygiene products,
dental floss, hair, cooking grease, cloth rags, hypodermic needles,
razor blades, latex gloves, and anything else that will fit into the
toilet.
The trouble with
all these items, is that when flushed, they cause major blockage issues
in the city sewers, which will lead to back ups, causing raw sewage to
back up into homes and businesses.
This very situation
happened in Brewer in December of 2008.
Due to
inappropriate disposal of wipes and paper towels, a blockage in a sewer
main caused raw sewage to back up into 9 apartments.
The cleanup cost to
the city sewer users for this particular incident ended up being a
resounding $21,900.
The problem isn’t
isolated to one location. We are finding that this particular issue is
city wide. The sewer maintenance crew, as well as the operators from the
Water Pollution Control Facility, have to deal with plugged sewer lines
and pumps almost on a daily basis.
The sewer users of
Brewer can ill afford to pay for too many of these costly mistakes.
If this problem
continues, it could possibly lead to an increase in the sewer user rate
to pay for expensive equipment to help prevent future sewer back ups.
One way to help the
environment, as well as eliminating the potential of sewage back ups
into any home, is to “properly” dispose of items by throwing them into
the garbage can where they belong.
The “ONLY”
items that should go into the toilet are human waste and toilet paper.
Lou Colburn
Chief Operator/Pretreatment Coordinator
Ken Locke
Director of Environmental Services
City of Brewer
Water Pollution Control Facility |
