Sewers clogged with non-disposable products amid covid-19 concerns

SILOAM SPRINGS -- The city is dealing with clogged sewers due to new habits formed in reaction to covid-19.

The city has seen a major increase in people disposing of items such as paper towels, baby wipes, cleaning wipes and other products by flushing them down the toilet, said Tom Myers, wastewater superintendent.

"Residents' lines don't have the velocity to flush," Myers said. "It will build up in the sewer main and eventually create a clog that will lead to a sewer back-up."

Myers is asking residents to only flush toilet paper and throw away anything else such as wipes, paper towels and tissue.

The reason items such as paper towels and wipes aren't meant to be flushed is they have a tear resistant material and do not dissolve or break down when they are placed in water like toilet paper does, Myers said.

Wipes are made of a tightly woven material which allows them to be used without tearing apart, Myers said. Even wipes marked as flushable aren't able to be flushed because of that tear resistant material, Myers said.

"If one was to place wipes in a bucket of water, (they) will never dissolve or breakdown," Myers said. "Toilet paper on the other hand will dissolve and become small particle matter in water."

Numerous sewer lines have been clogged throughout the city, Myers said. Along with individual sewer lines, two lift station pumps have been damaged due to flushed paper towels and wipes clogging the pumps, Myers said.

Since wastewater typically flows via gravity, low-lying areas such as Baptist Assembly (Camp Siloam) cannot gravity flow wastewater to the municipal plant, Myers said.

The lift stations collect wastewater from low-lying areas and pump it to a higher location where it can drain to the wastewater plant or repeat the process through another lift station until it can gravity flow to the wastewater plant, Myers said.

So far the city has had to clean the lift station pumps weekly and have repaired two of the pumps since mid-January, Myers said. Depending on the size of the pump, repair can range from $3,000 to $7,000 and can take three to four weeks to complete, Myers said.

"There have been two lift stations that require cleaning once to three times a week," Myers said. "Prior to covid-19 concerns, it was once every couple of weeks."

Unclogging sewer lines has also been an expensive proposition. Myers said when the expense of multiple staff members, a crane truck and related equipment are factored in, it can cost several hundred dollars weekly.

NW News on 03/29/2020

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