Wipes and other items causing severe clogs in Austin's sewer system, officials say

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin Water is reminding people to not flush any baby wipes, diapers, rags, or other items down the toilet, because they are causing clogs in the sewage system all too often.

"We are responding to sanitary sewer overflows every week," Jay Porter, the Austin Water's special services manager, said.

The utility took to Twitter to remind people to not put wipes in the pipes. It tweeted three times in the past two weeks about recent clogs that crews had to untangle from the system. One tweet mentioned a certain clog required four workers, a truck, and a crane to work all day to clear out one mess.

Flushable but not safe for the system

Porter explained that people are using wipes everyday and flushing them down the toilet. Water crews have to clear out a clog of wipes at least once a week, Porter explained. Officials say you should only flush down toilet paper.

Even disposable wipes that are labeled "flushable" on the packaging are causing issues. Porter explained that the wipes are flushable, but they do not dissipate in the water in the sewer like toilet paper does. If the wipes combine with oils or grease that is also flushed down, that can create massive clogs.

A study published in the National Library of Medicine in 2021 found that these kind of wipes were not disintegrating in the water after use. On its website, Austin Water even encourages people to run their own experiment at their home. It involves putting toilet paper and a flushable wipe into a Mason jar of water to see how they both dissolve.

Wipes are not the only issue. Porter said crews have seen diapers, pharmaceuticals, and even dish towels. You can keep your wipes, Porter said, but he advises people to keep them away from the toilet.

"You treat it like all solid waste. Put it into the trash receptacle and it ends up in the landfill," Porter said.

A costly problem

Austin is far from alone in this issue. Utilities all around the country are experiencing the same problem with these wipes. And the mistakes are becoming costly.

An Austin Water spokesperson said the utility spends tens-of-millions of dollars every year on proactive maintenance of the system to make sure it is free-flowing. The clogs can cause damage to critical infrastructure and can lead to overflows out of the sewer.

The spokesperson said the main reason for sewage overflows in Austin is due to the "fusing of fats, oils, grease, rags, diapers, napkins, wet wipes and other non-flushable items."

The problem also costs crews a lot of time. Some problems may be able to be fixed by one person in less than a hour, but there are times where more manpower is needed and a whole day can be spent to clear out an area, Porter explained.

Teams will also try to locate where a problem is coming from. If it is coming from an apartment complex, the utility will do outreach with the community to make sure people understand the problems with flushing wipes and other items. If a problem is pinpointed to a commercial business, the utility will investigate to see if it was on purpose, and if so, can issue a penalty against the business that could be civil or criminal, Porter explained.

The city of Austin has more information about this issue on its website.