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Don’t believe the wipe hype: So-called ‘flushable’ products clogging pipes, costing millions

Posted on: May 13, 2016

Devin Kiyonaga spends a lot of time thinking about toilets flushing.

“I can’t help but be passionate about this topic now,” said Kiyonaga, a Metro Vancouver project engineer. “As a joke, I’ll throw in my email signature, every now and then: ‘Think of me when you flush.’”

Kiyonaga is working on a new Metro Vancouver campaign targeting a problem that has recently made a mess of the region’s pump stations and 500 kilometres of sewer mains.

The clogs are made of bundled-up masses of items that shouldn’t be flushed, Kiyonaga said, including everything from paper towels to dental floss, and one prime culprit — the so-called “flushable wipe.”

Now, Metro Vancouver wants to get out a message: Even if the product says “flushable,” don’t believe the wipe hype.

 

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