Your toilet safe wet wipes are not toilet safe. All plumbers will tell you this.
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Monster fatberg blocks London sewer
- Thread starter Chanser
- Start date
Your toilet safe wet wipes are not toilet safe. All plumbers will tell you this.
If a wipe is truly flushable, it can't come pre-moistened because it would have already disintegrated. Moisture = disintegration = no sewer backups. It's pretty simple.
These wipes may not fully clog the sewer upon introduction, but they create partial blockages that allow sewage to slow down and pool in the system. That allows the fats and oils from cooking to collect as they fall out of solution in the stagnant water and stick to the pipe and everything else that flows by. Eventually you get a fatberg and a catastrophic sewer overflow.
In my area a sewer overflow immediately drains from the ground level to the storm drain system, which is separate from the sewer. It goes straight to the nearest ocean or river from there and contaminates everything.
These wipes may not fully clog the sewer upon introduction, but they create partial blockages that allow sewage to slow down and pool in the system. That allows the fats and oils from cooking to collect as they fall out of solution in the stagnant water and stick to the pipe and everything else that flows by. Eventually you get a fatberg and a catastrophic sewer overflow.
In my area a sewer overflow immediately drains from the ground level to the storm drain system, which is separate from the sewer. It goes straight to the nearest ocean or river from there and contaminates everything.
Ravensmash
Member
This.
Most of us just give it a few quick rubs and then throw the tissue on the floor.
Herr Schwarz
Banned
That's disgusting.
Lol always makes me chuckle to think people would just throw their poop out a window back in the day.
Lol always makes me chuckle to think people would just throw their poop out a window back in the day.
nelsonroyale
Member
Revolting
I first saw these Fatbergs on a London sewer documentary on Youtube, I was retching and heaving throughout the entire thing. Fecal waste and toilet matter is one thing, but mixed with the used condoms, nappies, fat and takeaway grease it becomes its own special vision of hell. People have to go down there into the sewers and deal with this unholy mess. Truly appalling.
DarkestHour
Banned
Try showering after a shit maybe?
A Taste of London
I feel so conflicted right now.
Host Samurai
Member
Fatberg? sounds like something someone would say to make fun of their fat Jewish friend.
Phobophile
A scientist and gentleman in the manner of Batman.
Bidets are what truly fomented Brexit.
GoingToDelete
Member
That's gross, its isnt hard to not dump fat/oil into the drains. I dont even want to think about how it smells.
smokeandmirrors
Banned
i cant stop reading it as 'fartberg'
Discordian_taco
Member
Join the civilized world and get a bidet. No wet wipes needed.
Washing your hands properly is quite important; scrubbing for 5 seconds is nowhere near long enough.
You guys should google "how to wash your hands properly".The NHS has a good online guide.
Via Purifico
Banned
The people working to remove it should be lauded as heroes, the smell must be horrifying.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
My upstairs neighbor broke our apartment's sewage system by flushing wet wipes. They don't degrade in water so they make huge cousin-It looking clogs wherever they accumulate.
Honestly, TP is cheaper and less messy, both on your ass and in the long run.
Do you keep the tap running as you run through the dishes?
That seems like a waste of water
Do you keep the tap running as you run through the dishes?
That seems like a waste of water
I don't let dishes pile up; I wash things individually under a continuous stream of hot water as soon I've finished eating/drinking. Takes about 10 minutes or less. Washing things in the sink with the same body of water is ridiculous. You're basically washing everything with dirty water filled with food particles.
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
I bet the guys cleaning that feel like fucking astronauts.
Sir I'm forever in your debt
Lol
CassidyIzABeast
Member
Welp. Fatberg is the latest addition to "my don't google that again" list.
There's also something to be said for a... finishing touch when need to get rid of the last little bit.
But yeah, it's been sounding like "flushable" is a load of shit!
Audioboxer
Member
That looks like a fucking Dark Souls boss.
Audioboxer
Member
Memories <3
So long as you have soap/detergent in water that isn't too dirty then rinse off any contamination properly, washing multiple dishes in the same batch of water is not an issue.
- Brought to you by your local, friendly sterile processor. -
thecosmicfly
Banned
Burning this fatberg would probably speed up climate change by 20-30 years. That's if we don't all die from the fumes that it'd produce. It'll be chernobyl all over again.
But with a fatberg.
YourMaster
Member
I say we make people who flush wet-wipes down the toilet eat the fatberg. The calories in that thing must be massive, and what we save by not raising livestock for them can set global warming back 20-30 years.
There is no such thing as toilet safe wet wipes. Toilets, household plumbing, and sewers are designed for human waste, grey water, and toilet paper. Toilet paper dissolves when moist and agitated. Wet wipes by definition do not. They typically use some plastic to hold their shape.
Toilet safe wet wipes are a marketing term and no sanitation engineer, city engineering department, or association of wastewater experts was endorsing any of those products when I last looked at the issue (public policy contract gig).
Unless things have changed, flushing a wet wipe is choosing to spend your tax dollars on the convenient disposal of the waste from cleaning your asshole rather than spending it on schools, police, firefighting, or infrastructure. It is plainly selfish and you ought to feel ashamed.
OriginalNameGuy
Member
Glad we have guys who are paid to work on such things so I can continue to flush my wipes
BladeoftheImmortal
Member
The west really needs to start using bidets
Yeh I get that, I guess, mentally I'm OK to take the hit. Having been drilled into us growing up about droughts and wasting water etc (australian)
True. A lot of people don't seem to grasp the logic of if they truly disintegrated in water, they would start disintegrating as soon as you wiped yourself with it. Calling something "toilet safe" when it truly isn't should be outlawed somehow.
snausagesUK
Member
Will keep in mind next time I'm in whitechapel. Look out for the whale sized shitty nappy used condom eldritch nightmare
Android18a
Member
Sadly for some, a continuous stream of hot water isn't really always easy to get. My water heater under the sink in my apartment is tiny so it runs out of heat after about a minute of running. Similar situation in the bathroom, no chance of a hot bath unless I run it from the electric shower because it'd be icy old with the taps.
And I'd love a bidet but my place is way too small, and rented. Gosh I wish I had a proper house but it's so hard to even save up enough for a mortgage deposit...
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
Fatberg: Nappies in the Bog
waveuponwave
Member
That's still a huge waste of water.
You rinse the dishes afterwards. And if they are extremely dirty ot there's lots of fat you can clean them with kitchen paper first. It's really not an issue.
And just make sure you clean any glasses/cups first.
neurosisxeno
Member
Hasn't this been known about for quite some time? It was mentioned in a Web Comic I read daily (ScaryGoRound) which is written by a British author a few months back.
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