'Flushable' wet wipes are still causing massive fatbergs and costing us millions.

 The products were last year slapped with the ‘Shonky Award‘ by consumer group Choice for claiming they disintegrated just like toilet paper.

 A Choice investigation concludes that while the improved ‘flushable’ wipes are a step in the right direction because they are likely to eventually substantially break apart, it occurs slowly enough that the pieces retain the strength and size to pose a blockage threat.

Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey said consumers faced hefty plumbing bills in the thousands of dollars should the new ‘flushable’ wipes jam their household pipes.

Mr Godfrey said there seemed to be an “obsession with trying to convince people to flush these products, when the fact is they can clog up your pipes and be rough on your wallet,” Mr Godfrey said.

“Oddly, although the company insisted their old wipes were ‘flushable’ they have decided to reformulate the product.”

This is half of what was removed from sewer pipe at Eleebana. Rest had to be removed by hand. #KeepWipesOutOfPipes pic.twitter.com/cBVzbrb0Lc — Hunter Water (@HunterWater) February 24, 2016

A product description instructs consumers to “flush a maximum of two wipes at a time” and says the wipes pass all seven industry flushability tests.

 

@mmechomski @Colvinius Wet wipes are not doing the Sydney wastewater system any good either: pic.twitter.com/KNm5Fke6fk via @SydneyWaterNews — . (@dizzylimit) March 16, 2015

He had stern words for the dodgy wipes, declaring it was time to end the “grubby obsession with getting Aussies to flush these products”.

 

This is what wipes look like on the other end of the loo! We’re asking customers not to flush wipes @choiceaustralia pic.twitter.com/wsVlhsKENq — SE Water Australia (@southeastwater) October 7, 2015

Chucking ‘flushable’ wipes down the toilet was a problem estimated to cost the Australian wastewater industry $15 million a year to clear blockages. What’s more, a whopping 75 per cent of pipe blockages are thought to be caused by ‘fatbergs’, aka solid masses of congealed grease, fat and products like wet wipes that form in the sewer system.

And while the misleading ‘flushable’ wipes for adults are a major pest, there is an abundance of varieties in the exploding wet wipes market that cause headaches, including those for make-up removal, bubs and cleaning.

Mama Joy shows us how to make homemade baby wipes. Post continues after video…

Mr Godfrey said that with consumers, local councils and water services organisations struggling with the cost of removing fatbergs from the sewage system, it was encouraging that some ‘flushable’ wipes brands were cleaning up their act — but the troublesome products should be done away with altogether.

So here’s a timely reminder for everyone to do their bit by keeping all things wet wipes, nappies, sanitary items, cotton buds, dental floss, cigarette butts and fats and oils well away from the dunny.  The fatbergs aren’t getting any slimmer.

And seriously, what’s so wrong with good old-fashioned toilet paper?

Did you know that 500 tonnes of wet wipes are pulled out of our sewers every year? Let’s #KeepWipesOutofPipes pic.twitter.com/rvORfLk21Q — Sydney Water (@SydneyWaterNews) May 4, 2016