I like using baby wipes to clean up in between showers. I have been flushing them one at a time. My wife says this will cause damage to the sewer lines and and an expensive repair. Will this really cause any problems?
Yes:
And many more. “Flushable” is technically correct - they *can *be flushed - they just *shouldn’t *be.
Depends a lot on your local plumbing. If you’re in a single-family home with a four-inch waste line to the street sewer, and it’s been compromised by tree roots through the years, then trouble lies ahead.
If (like me) you live in an apartment building with an eight-inch waste stack and outfall line that’s rodded every couple of years, less to worry about.
Note that toilet paper will essentially dissolve but baby wipes as a rule won’t.
Here’s an article from The New York Times about the problems at the wastewater treatment plants caused by these wipes. (So even if there’s no problem with your building’s waste stack, there might be further down the line.) The article links to others, about issues with these wipes in Hawaii, Alaska, California and Wisconsin, and mentions problems in other cities.
I’m recovering from hip surgery and have to use them occasionally. I have a plastic bag lined trash can within reach so I don’t have to flush them. But I’m on a septic system, so if I do flush some all I’m doing is decreasing the time between tank pump outs. Of course that’s assuming that they don’t hang up in a pipe. But the house is built with PVC drain pipe of adequate size so I’m not really worried about it.
All the above examples happened outside the property lines, in the public pipes.
Why are you flushing them? Because you want to? Like the idea? Don’t get garbage pick up?
It’s a silly risk to take. Could end up costing you big money for plumbing repairs. Why risk it? Just to be contrary to the wife?
Why so invested in needing to flush them? Can you explain?
I don’t use them, but where else would you recommend putting a wet-wipe that probably has a non-trivial amount of feces on it?
I suppose the OP could get one of these, and use it like new parents do, but that would look weird in the bathroom I suspect.
Very very very bad idea. We once had a massive backup in our office sewer line. The plumber found over 100 baby wipes in it. When we asked the only tenant with a baby about it, she said “I thought they could be flushed.”
Why coming down so hard? Where the heck did the notion come from that he’s “so invested” in flushing them? He just asked a question.
So…everyone here is saying that wipes advertised as being flushable, as opposed to wipes that are not flushable (and say so on the package), are bad?
“Flushable” wipes don’t break down in a septic system?
ETA:
Just found this from Consumer Reports:
(Bolding mine)
Er, um, if your only ‘acceptable’ response to something with feces on it, (And where did he even specify that?), is to flush it, then you should use a product that flushes without damaging your plumbing. (Like toilet paper!)
However, new parents routinely use wipes, for feces, without needing to flush for disposal, so clearly there ARE other disposal choices.
I’d suggest choosing to avoid future expensive plumbing issues myself.
How long have you been doing this and HAS it ever caused any problems?
If not, then obviously it is not a problem with your particular plumbing system. That is so long as you do not have a septic tank.
OP didn’t say anything about flushable; he just called them “baby wipes”. AFAIK, no baby wipes are flushable (my info is a few years out of date, so feel free to correct if I am wrong). If OP is using flushable wipes, I don’t think anyone has a problem with it. But then I think he wouldn’t be asking if he were using flushable wipes.
If you read the linked articles upthread, a lot of utilities do in fact have a problem with so-called “flushable” wipes.
The problem is that there is no real consensus on what makes a wipe “flushable” or not, and no accepted test for flushability that has been accepted by the manufacturers as well as the wastewater treatment plants.
Many, if not most, wastewater treatment plants would greatly prefer that nothing other than human waste and toilet paper be flushed down the toilets. This means no food and no trash. (Some utilities even discourage the use of garbage disposal units, but that is a separate topic.)
As for me, I have a septic system for my house, so I follow this practice because I don’t want to cause issues with my system. Not to get into too much detail, but I personally use toilet paper followed by a wipe just to ensure the job is completely done. The TP is flushed, whereas the wipe is wrapped in a tissue and disposed in the trash. If there is anything at all significant on the wipe, then not enough TP was used.
What’s wrong with a damp sponge? Easily available, cheap, reusable, no plumbing risks, less damaging to the environment, etc.
It depends on where you’re “cleaning up” with the wipes, eh?
I’m pretty sure by “cleaning up” he means “cleaning shit off my arse after doing a poo.” If you want to use a sponge for this and reuse it, then go for it, but don’t blame the OP for wanting a disposable solution.
If you are toiletizing with the wipes I’d suggest you put it/them in a baggie afterward and seal it up. Then the wipe won’t stink or give off bacteria and you can toss it into the trash (or perhaps into a flip-top wastebasket that you and not your wife empties) where it will keep happily until trash pickup day.