SUEZ Joins Nassau County Executive Curran at Daily Briefing

Alan Weland, Vice President and General Manager of Suez Operations joined Nassau County Executive Laura Curran at her daily briefing to urge Nassau residents to not flush “ flushable wipes” or gloves.

According to Weland, “ These items are clogging sewer systems and blockages caused by wipes, gloves and other inappositely flushed items causes utility workers to remove them in confined places and many times this must be done by hand, which is dangerous and costly.”

“These flushable wipes, which are being used by people sometimes to clean door knobs, countertops, and other surfaces, are a growing hazard to public health,” said Weland. “We fully understand that disinfection is so important now because of COVID-19, but we are seeing a large increase in people disposing of these wipes in their toilet instead of in the garbage.”

Many of the wipes are advertised as "just like toilet paper", but cannot disintegrate in the sewerage system. That’s because while wipes might look a bit like toilet paper, there are major differences. Wipes are generally made from a very tough material, and are often soaked with cleaning chemicals, disinfectants and sometimes, even scents.

The wipes act very differently in sewers to toilet paper and do not readily disintegrate in water. When in the sewer pipes these tougher, more resilient wipes have a tendency to entangle with other wipes and create blockages.

According to Weland, wipes are not the only waste item that people should not flush down the toilet. He pointed out that workers have found many waste objects that should not be flushed, such as cigarette butts, dental floss, hair and unwanted medication.

“Sewers and wastewater systems are designed to dispose of very specific items, and using a toilet as a trash can of convenience products can results in blockages,” Weland . “The sewer pipes that connect homes to community sewer systems are only wide enough to carry water, toilet paper and human waste.”

Here is a partial list of common household items that SHOULD NOT be flushed:

· Baby or moist bathroom wipes

· Medications, vitamins and supplements

· Facial tissue or paper towels

· Cat litter, coffee grounds, cigarette butts

· Feminine hygiene products of any kind

· Contact lenses or plastics of any kind

· Bandages, wrappers, cotton balls, dental floss

· Cleaning wipes, dust cloths and duster heads

For further information, SUEZ recommends visiting the National Association of Water Companies website: www.nacwa.org/toilets.