Baby wipes a problem at wastewater plants

Submitted by The Associated Press on Fri, 11/27/2009 - 09:14

AUGUSTA — Maine officials say wastewater treatment plants around the state are experiencing problems because residents continue flushing baby wipes and similar items down their toilets.

Andrew Fisk of the Department of Environmental Protection says baby wipes sometimes form into long ropes that can wrap around pumps and other equipment. As a result, he says municipalities are spending millions of dollars for maintenance and replacement parts for burned-out pumps.

Rep. Bernard Ayotte, a member of the Legislature's Natural Resources Committee, is urging Mainers to refrain from putting wipes into the wastewater system.

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If these items and others

Submitted by Judith Swanson on Fri, 11/27/2009 - 16:10.

If these items and others like them are causing so much damage to expensive equipment, they should be outlawed not only in Maine but across the country.  I remember several years back that school kids in Freeport  campaigned  to stop McDonalds from using styrofoam to package their products.  It seems to me that the use of these products is a much bigger problem that styrofoam is or ever could be!

The only way to stop this

Submitted by Nancy Goodspeed on Fri, 11/27/2009 - 14:06.

The only way to stop this problem is for manufacturers to stop making them.

A good start would be for

Submitted by ellen wrey on Fri, 11/27/2009 - 14:29.

A good start would be for manufacturers to stop advertising and labeling them as "flushable" as many still do.

We could always tax baby

Submitted by Citizen X on Fri, 11/27/2009 - 13:48.

We could always tax baby wipes to help defray the cost of repairing the sewage pumps....Just a thought.