Sydney Has 75% Of Wet Wipes Blocked In The Sewer Due To Their Use. Here's The $27 Million Problem

You throw away a wet wipe. It disappears. Problem solved, right? Wrong. This wipe is now clumping in a pipe somewhere under your home, along with grease and other wipes that have to be paid for some unit of money to retrieve. It is a big issue, on this scale.

Sydney Water can remove up to 20,000 blockages in its wastewater system each year. The annual cost: approximately $27 million. But, the number one cause of blockage – hands down – is wet wipes. Not tree roots. Not grease. Not foreign objects. In Sydney, blocks of wastewater in the sewer system are caused by wet wipes as much as 75 per cent of the time, even those marked as ‘flushable’.

It is a figure which can make one sit and think. Sydney Water crews are present to investigate blockages – three out of every 4 blockages are caused by something that should never have been in the pipe to begin with. Sydney Water’s budget is not the only one to be impacted by the cost. It impacts individual households also. According to Sydney Water’s case data, one of its customers reported a $16,000 plumbing re-claim to fix broken wastewater pipes caused by wet wipes being flushed.

"Flushable" Wipes are NOT Flushable

The word “flushable” on a packet of wet wipes means one thing: the wipe will go down your toilet when you flush. That’s it. It (will) come out of the bowl; (will) get into the pipe. But it will not do what toilet paper does.

The toilet paper is made to fall apart as soon as it comes in contact with water. Its fabric is composed of short cellulose fibre that easily splits apart when wet. Wet wipes, even so called flushable ones, do not disintegrate in water but consist of synthetic (or synthetic/natural) fibres. This is how they feel when you use them – strong and durable. It is that durability that makes it a selling commodity as a consumer product and also the issue as a plumbing material.

Wipes are not soluble in the sewer pipes. It continues to move downstream until it snags in the pipe, perhaps in a rough join or where the pipe widens, or perhaps in a slight misalignment, or perhaps on an existing coating of grease that has accumulated on the pipe wall. There it sits. The second wipe snags on the first wipe. Both are covered with grease from kitchen drains. More wipes arrive. The deposit tightens into a blocked plug after a few weeks, barely allowing water to flow.

When large, they’re dubbed “fatbergs” in the plumbing world, and they can get quite large. Fatbergs weighing hundreds of dozens of kgs have been documented in Sydney Water’s main sewer system.

This is clearly reflected in Sydney Water’s data – non-flushable wet wipes are responsible for 75% of all blockages. The organisation endures costs of up to $27million each year to unblock around 20,000 clog-ups from its network. Sydney Water recommends that all products that contain ‘wet wipes’ should be checked to ensure they comply with the Australian Flushable Products Standard icon (AS/NZS 5328:2022) before being flushed. Items that do not have this mark should be in the bin, ALWAYS.

When the Clog occurs in Your Pipes!

Sydney Water has a network, consisting of the main sewer in the streets and on public land. However pipes running from your home to your boundary connected pipe are under your own responsibility. That’s where wet wipe blockages usually occur in homes.

The distance from your house to your private sewer line is usually 5-20 metres to the boundary trap. Every joint, bend and connection will be a trapping point during that run. Rough edges, roots growing through cracks, and grease and soap buildup are all targets for wet wipes to cling to. The blockage occurs on your end of the boundary line and you have to foot the bill for clearing.

The cost of a jetting a standard blockage is $300 to $600. However, if the wipes have caused the pipe to be compromised or stretched the joints, trapped debris which erodes pipe walls or caused a partial collapse, then the repair cost increases. Pipe relining runs $500 to $1,200 per metre. Costs for excavation and replacement are several thousand dollars. In the worst of them, recorded by Sydney Water, one Sydnie was hit with a $16,000 bill.

The Apartment Multiplier

When occurring in a freestanding house, wet wipe blockage affects only one household. This issue becomes an issue of multiple in an apartment block. All units on each floor have their wastes connected to a common sewer stack. A lot of waste from many flats comes together in the same waste collection points in the stack. The blockage increases as it is supplied by multiple kitchens and bathrooms rather than just one.

This causes a backup in the stack – and the first hit is to the lowest located “drain points” of the ground floor units. Those who lived on the ground floor failed to flush wipes. The responsible person could be 5 stories above. However, the problem and the odor exists at the base of a building.

In strata buildings the cost of having a sewer stack cleaned will be charged against the building’s maintenance fund, which is composed of funds contributed by all owners. Each WetWipe flushed in the building is adding to the cost of maintenance which is shared by each unit owner. A tragedy of the commons in the pipes.

51Crimes - The Only Rule That Matters

Sydney Water says it all: “Only flush the 3 Ps” to repeat what we would say to every drain job we encounter. Pee, poo and (toilet) paper. ALL OTHER WASTE IN THE BIN.

Not wet wipes. Not cotton buds. Not dental floss. Not sanitary products. Not tissues. Not cotton pads. Never “flushable” anything that doesn’t have the ‘Australian Flushable Products Standard’ (AS/NZS 5328:2022) stamp and even then, be cautious.

Cooking grease: allow to cool, place in a self-closing container and place in the bin. Or drop it off at a nearby Community Recycling Centre. Do not pour oil and grease down the kitchen sink. This congeals in the pipe, sticks to the wall and is what wet wipes and other debris stick to.

The least expensive blocked drain clog solution is “no repair,” which means it was never blocked. Remove two of the largest problems that cause blockages in Sydney residential drains – a container for the grease (placed near the stove), and a bin for wipes (placed near the toilet) No plumber required. No $600 jetting bill. No $16,000 pipe repair. Only a garbage can and a jar.