Protect your pipes, don't flush wipes!

When we flush the toilet we rarely think about what happens afterwards, unless the pipes clog causing a messy and expensive sewer backup.

Wipes are often marketed as flushable, but did you know they don't break down in our sewer system? The packaging may say they are flushable—but they aren’t! Wipes don’t break down as quickly as toilet paper. Instead, they act like a net that catches other solids like hair, facial tissue or paper towel until they become a solid mass that blocks water through the pipes.

Wipes should be tossed into the waste instead of flushed down the toilet.

The only things you should flush are the three Ps: pee, poo and toilet paper.

Not sure where something goes? Check our waste wizard.

Wastewater from your toilets takes less than one day to travel from your home to the treatment plant. "Flushable" wipes cannot break down this fast, but toilet paper can.

Toilet paper breaks down very quickly. If there is a tree root, a curve, grease or other blockage in the pipe, toilet paper can usually still pass through without adding to the build-up. Wipes and other large and absorbent materials (i.e., feminine hygiene products, paper towels or diapers) will get caught which blocks water and often requires repair.

Canadians spend millions of dollars every year to clean up sewer clogs, with most costs directly or indirectly passed onto residents.

Save your pipes, bin the wipes.