There was reason for optimism Tuesday as members of the Washington Public Works Board praised city residents for heeding their warnings against putting flushable diaper wipes into the city’s sewer. 

Last month, public works officials began sharing messages on social media and circulating flyers in different neighborhoods and subdivisions about how flushable diaper wipes were clogging the city’s sewer system and damaging equipment within the city’s lift stations. 

“I’d say 10 to 20 percent of our time each week is spent on foreign objects in the sewer line,” Director of Public Works John Nilges said last month. Those foreign objects are largely diaper wipes. 

“We are doing better,” Nilges said Tuesday. 

Kevin Quaethem, who is the city’s water and wastewater superintendent, agreed that conditions have “gotten better.”