Not so “flushable” wipes wreaking havoc on sewers, including La Crosse

Wipes don’t degrade, plug pumps and damage other equipment.

With lawsuits pending against manufacturers, the problem of flushable wipes continues for local sewer utilities.

La Crosse water utility manager Mark Johnson says he doesn’t have a solid estimate for the extra it costs to deal with disposable wipes that are sold as flushable but really aren’t.

It’s a complex problem with a simple solution

“That is garbage and you should throw it away as garbage,” Johnson said about the not-so “flushable” wipes.

“These things show up, not as individual wipes, but they show up in combination with other things in the sewer system that, if we didn’t take them out on the screen, they’d end up plugging pumps and doing damage to other equipment,” Johnson explained.

Like anything, the wipes can be flushed, but they won’t degrade the same way as toilet paper, Johnson said, adding that wipes and roots are the two biggest clogging problems for the city’s sewer system.  

Cities in Minnesota are involved in a class-action suit against manufacturers of the wipes for the misleading labels. Recently, La Crosse was asked about joining the lawsuit, according to Johnson.

“I would say that it’s probably 80-90 percent of what we deal with, mostly in combination to other things in the sewer but it’s significant,” Johnson said, noting the problem has been severe the past five years, clogging pumps and wreaking havoc elsewhere.