As toilet paper shelves sit empty, flushable wipes are in demand across the region. The one catch is that the wipes aren’t supposed to end up in the sewer.
Those ‘flushable wipes’ that residents are sending down the toilet are starting to clog the system.
Kathy Bentz of the Prince William Service Authority is urging residents to stop flushing wipes and hygiene products down the toilet as well as dumping oil, fat, and grease down the sink. When those products get into the pipes, it creates a clog in the pipes that county workers have to manually clean.
“There shouldn’t be any circumstance where these products can be flushed down the toilet,” Bentz said.
Wipes and other products that get into the system can not only clog the community pipes but they can also clog pipes that are in your home.
“These are costly repairs for your system as well as the county’s,” Bentz said. “You don’t want to deal with those plumbing costs.”
The sewer systems are built to deal with small amounts of wipes through devices called grinders and channel screens that grind up and catch non-flushable items.
“When the flows are heavy, it’s difficult for the system to keep up,” Bentz said.
For fat, oil, and grease, Bentz says not to throw the cooking waste down the drain, but rather let it cool and then throw the waste away in a garbage bag.
The county has dealt with this issue in the past. They’ve had to shut down certain pipes to clean and replace the grinders and channel screens which is ‘costly’ according to Bentz.
Not only are the backups costly, but they also harm the environment. The pipe can burst and unsanitary water can pollute the environment if it were near a manhole.
“Dont flush those wipes,” Bentz said “The only things you should flush are the three P’s. Pee, Poo and Paper.”
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Compared to gas, electric lawn equipment can reduce emissions, noise pollution, health risks and maintenance costs and time. The program aims to remove about a hundred gas-powered polluting tools from yards in the greater Baltimore-Washington region.
The exchanges will take place the weekends of May 17-19, 2024, and May 31-June 2, 2024, at A Few Cool Hardware Stores network of employee-owned Ace Hardware stores in the DC and Baltimore metro areas. To participate and get your free Ego Power+ lawn tool, sign up at https://qrco.de/CAPExchange to reserve your tool and select your trade-in date and location.
Are you feeling overwhelmed by life’s challenges? Do stress and anxiety seem to dominate your thoughts? At Peaceful Mind Solutions, we understand that navigating mental health can be daunting, but you don’t have to do it alone.
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Free Irish Music Concert
Welcoming Spring with music from the Emerald Isle, the New Dominion Choraliers offer a FREE concert on Saturday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the First United Presbyterian Church of Dale City.
Joined by Legacy Brass and members of Old
Spring Ceili: An Irish Music Festival
The New Dominion Choraliers of Prince William County and McGrath Morgan Academy of Irish Dance invite you to join them at our Ceili, a grand celebration of Irish music and dance.
A gathering of performance groups throughout Prince William County
