To Flush It Or Not To Flush It?

As a community, we have been inundated with information about COVID - 19.

For many of us, now, more than ever, we are increasing efforts to keep surfaces and our surroundings clean. Weathering the storm of low supplies can cause the citizens of Florence to turn to other alternatives for personal hygiene and surface cleaning such as disinfecting wipes or sprays and paper towels.    The City of Florence Public Works wants to remind the public that these two options are not flushable like toilet paper.

Toilet paper is made to disintegrate as it flows through the sewer system, while wipes are cloths made of strong material that doesn't break down as immediately as toilet paper.  The marketing of these products is unfortunate because many are labeled as flushable when the damage they do to the city sewer system in the form of clogged sewer pipes and pump stations, increased utility repairs and maintenance is immense. Cleansing wipes, even if labeled as flushable, should not be flushed down the toilet.   

If you do use wipes, paper towels or anything other than toilet paper, please make sure to throw them in the garbage and do not flush them.  The operators at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, under normal circumstances, spend a great deal of time watching for and removing large clogs of wipes and other material from the wastewater facility, so in a time when we could see an increase in the use of alternative products for cleaning and personal hygiene, the possibility of these products going down the toilet is very large.

We are fortunate that, though this feels like a large scale disaster, we still have city services intact. Please be mindful of those resources and only flush toilet paper.  Everything else should be thrown away.