Why Flushing Regular Wipes Will Clog Your Drains

With sales of wet wipes approaching $367 million annually in the United States, they are very popular with consumers. Looked at as being convenient and providing greater comfort than toilet paper, wet wipes have become a necessity in many of today’s homes. However, while people who use them think nothing of flushing them down the toilet, the fact is wet wipes do a tremendous amount of damage to pipes and sewer systems. In fact, it’s estimated that wet wipes do as much as $18 million in damage to sewer systems across the United States per year.

Despite their manufacturers claiming the wipes are able to be flushed, more and more plumbers are beginning to alert consumers to the problems that can result from flushing wet wipes on a regular basis.

Not only can it lead to one toilet repair after another, but many people also find themselves consumed with drain cleaning on a regular basis. To find out about the hazards wet wipes present to a home’s pipes and drains, take a look at the following reasons as to why flushing regular wipes will guarantee you’ll have clogged drains.

Virtually Indestructible

Despite their packaging saying they are flushable, most wet wipes are virtually indestructible. In fact, when researchers put them in a blender for more than 10 minutes, the wipes were barely damaged. In other testing, it was found that while most brands of toilet paper completely disintegrate within 24 hours, wet wipes can stay fully intact within a pipe or drain for several weeks or perhaps even several months before somewhat disintegrating.

Needless to say, this becomes a major problem over time for people who use them on a regular basis. While manufacturers advise people to flush only one or two wipes at a time, in most cases people flush several wipes after using them.

By doing so, they unknowingly create bigger and bigger clogs with each flush. Many plumbers now report finding wet wipes clogs in pipes the size of softballs, and now refer to them as “softball clogs” when working on them.

Other plumbers report the clogs sometimes get so big that they actually cause the pipe to burst, creating an even bigger repair job. For best results, plumbers highly recommend any used wet wipes be disposed of in a trashcan to ensure no damage occurs to a home’s plumbing system.

Grease, Fat, and Wet Wipes

Although they are able to cause very large clogs on their own, it is when wet wipes combine with other debris such as grease and fat that the clogs take on a whole new meaning. These clogs, known as a “fatberg” by plumbers and sewage treatment workers, can sometimes weigh hundreds of pounds and be virtually impossible to dissolve.

Responsible for damaging pipes in residences as well as sewage treatment facilities, these clogs have become much more prevalent in recent years. In fact, the problem has become so bad that many cities are now considering banning the use of wet wipes in an effort to keep these clogs from forming. Other localities have considered fining those who flush wet wipes down their toilets, but agree it would be almost impossible to enforce.

Septic Systems and Wipes–Not a Good Combination

While wet wipes can lead to a major toilet repair and plenty of drain cleaning along the way, the damage they do to septic systems is both costly and inconvenient. While septic systems generally work very well for those people who are not on a city’s water and sewer system, flushing wet wipes into the septic tank can lead to much bigger problems down the road.

For example, if enough wipes are flushed into the tank and allowed to form a large clog, the tank will eventually become clogged and start to allow sewage to back up into the home, creating a disgusting and expensive mess. If this happens, many homeowners can expect to pay as much as $10,000 for repairs to be made or a new septic tank to be installed. If the damage done by the clogs is extensive, plumbers often recommend having a new septic system installed in an effort to prevent future problems.

Oh, What a Tangled Web

In older homes that have plumbing systems decades old, wet wipes can pose yet another type of problem. In many homes with trees in the yard, the roots from the trees may find their way into the pipes located underground. Able to do so thanks to the tiny holes created in the pipes due to corrosion, the roots form a tangled mess inside the pipes that is made worse by wet wipes being flushed down the toilet day after day. Over the course of time, one wipe after another becomes entangled within the roots, causing a long, wall-like clog to form.

If undetected, eventually nothing in the pipe can get through the wall, creating a clog that can only be removed by a professional plumber. If the clogs are large and removing them would cause even more damage to the pipes, it will be recommended that the homeowner replace the old pipes with ones made of newer and stronger materials, such as PVC.

Since these pipes cannot corrode and let virtually nothing stick to the inside of the pipe, it’s a good bet that installing these while discontinuing the flushing of wet wipes will result in years of plumbing bliss.

Call a Plumber Today

If you are a regular user of wet wipes and flush them down the toilet, it’s probably a good idea to contact a plumber as soon as possible. Chances are a large clog has formed in the pipes, and before long will let nothing else through. Rather than take the chance and let a problem go undetected for weeks or months, let a professional take a look.

If you need quality plumbing services in your Albuquerque, NM home, then please contact Daniels Heating and Air at (505) 898-8860 today.