Hitting the news this week has been an announcement from a number of local authorities in New Zealand warning about the disposal of wet wipes. I and many other dog owners use these wipes; I’ve particularly found them useful for senior dog care when little accidents and dribbles happen on a regular basis.
I admit that I have dutifully bought wipes labelled ‘flushable’ like these thinking they were safe to flush.
And now I find out that wet wipes are clogging the public sewer system, increasing the costs to maintain the system and potentially raising the costs which will ultimately come back to us as ratepayers.
The problem is that, once flushed, these wipes aggregate together and clog around pumping systems and piping.
Clogged sewer pipes – thanks to wet wipes (photo by Marlborough District Council)
Wet wipes clogging the pumping system (photo by Marlborough District Council)
So I’m putting up this blog post as part of the educational process. All wet wipes -for babies, dogs and cleaning – shouldn’t be flushed no matter what the label says!
If you are buying ‘flushable’ wipes, maybe you can write to the company and ask that they stop marketing their wipes as ‘flushable’ since this description is misleading.
Kathleen Crisley, specialist in dog massage, rehabilitation and nutrition/food therapy, Canine Catering Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand
DoggyMom.com 