On Friday, we noticed water standing near one of the main sewer main hole covers in the common area near East Townhouse Lane. Upon further inspection, we saw this (photo on the left):
The top center shows a wipe poking out of the lifting hole in the cover; the bottom center is a fountain of water coming it of the opposite lift hole. Directly in front of that is another wipe.
This sewer line starts on East Mountain Lane, so whoever is flushing these wipes, despite out asking residents not to flush them, continues to do so. We could not clear it with our power rooter, so we had to call in a Jet truck to clear the lines, at a cost of around $600.
It is one thing to have a sewer blockage due to age and/or build-up of grease; it is another to have people flushing wipes and clogging up a 6 ” line. So, if you use “flushable” wipes, they are not flushable and do not disintegrate as one might think.
In fact, the City of Grand Prairie posted about this on their website in 2016. I already posted this but here it is again:
Keep Wipes Out of City Wastewater System
“Flushable” wipes clog the city’s wastewater system when flushed down the toilet.
Do you use wet wipes that claim they are flushable? These wipes are actually not flushable and can cause harm to plumbing and wastewater systems because they do not disintegrate after flushing. Instead, they wrap around other flushed wipes and debris, damage pumps at the wastewater plant, and have to be removed from wastewater screens and lift stations.
Wipes also create clogs in main wastewater lines and customer lines that have to be manually removed because fats, oil and grease deposit on them.
Toilet paper disintegrates almost immediately, but the strong-fiber wipes cause havoc in city wastewater lines and at wastewater plants.
When using flushable wipes, please throw them into the trash, and do not flush them down the toilet. This keeps the wastewater lines clear and helps avoid costly clog removal at your home and the wastewater plant.