Flushable wipes are big business with their uses ranging from cleaning your children to personal hygiene and makeup application amongst many other uses. The ease and convenience of these laminated plastic cloths means they’re extremely popular with Brisbane families for a large range of applications.
The benefits of wet wipes also come at a cost however. Water cannot break down these tough cloths and if you’ve tried to tear one you’d understand why. The label “flushable” is extremely misleading and in fact there has been large legal cases in the past to contest this. Unlike toilet paper that breaks down in your toilet pipes almost instantly, wet wipes are the opposite and stay intact often causing the drain blockages we see in the drainage systems of our Brisbane customers’ homes.
“Flushable” Wipes Cause Blockages
Wet wipes are the leading cause of blockages in Brisbane homes and something our local plumbers deal with on a daily basis. By mixing with oils, fats and hair, wet wipes can easily clog your drains. Not only that, but if they get caught on cracks and roots in your drains, they can also stop water and waste flowing.
Many of our Brisbane customers have previously suffered a badly blocked drain as a result of wet wipes. The results have been catastrophic with toilets even overflowing and sewerage spilling into homes around Brisbane. In these cases, Brisbane residents have had to vacate their homes whilst the human waste was professionally cleaned. Other effects we’ve seen include the inconvenience of clogged toilets and bad smells throughout our local customers’ homes. Unfortunately for many people, weekends are the most common time for drainage problems to occur which isn’t ideal as that’s when you’re most likely to have visitors and some people may struggle to find a licensed and qualified local plumber who is available.
Besides causing local blockages at the household level, wet wipes are flowing into Brisbane’s drainage systems at alarming rates and combining with solidified oils and fats to create huge fatbergs. Hundreds of tonnes of fatbergs are created every year around our city alone, costing ratepayers millions of dollars annually to remove. Play your part in responsible waste disposable by not flushing wet wipes.
Prevent Blockages in your Brisbane Home
Although wet wipes are an extremely useful invention, unfortunately they also cause serious blockages for our Brisbane customers. To avoid clogs in the first place, always ensure you dispose of all wet wipes in the bin instead of flushing them down the toilet. Make sure you follow the golden toilet rule and only flush the three P’s – pee, poo and paper! We recommend putting a bin beside your toilet to put used wet wipes in. If your family has been putting wet wipes in your toilet like many other Brisbane families, a fatberg could be building in your drains which can cause a serious blockage in your plumbing system.
As shown in the Choice video below, flushable baby and makeup wipes simply don’t break down like toilet paper.
Professional Brisbane Blocked Drains Plumbers
If you have been disposing of wet wipes down the toilet, it might be a good idea to have your drainage system inspected using a CCTV camera. With this modern technology, we’re able to identify the location and severity of blockages and then clear them quickly and efficiently. By being proactive, your family will save time, money and inconvenience in the long run by clearing blockages before they worsen.
Hughes Plumbing Contractors service the entire South East Queensland region including northern suburbs such as Caboolture and Morayfield as well Brisbane central and southside suburbs including Logan. There’s no reason to let the mislabelling by large corporation cost your family money in fixing your plumbing. Contact Brisbane’s best plumbers today and our “One Call – We Do It All” team will be right out to get rid of those pesky wet wipes from your drains once and for all.
Contact Hughes Plumbing Contractors on 0406 288 142 or email info@hughespc.com.au to book your drain clearing and pipe inspection service today.
