Water Sector News
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GNWPCD urges residents: be careful what you flush
As part of our responsibility to the community during this time of pandemic, the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District is reminding all residents to only flush toilet paper and to avoid flushing wet wipes, paper towels, feminine hygiene products and wrappers down the toilet and instead urges residents to dispose of these items in the trash.
Wipes especially are often advertised as “flushable” by manufacturers for sales purposes, have consistently been found to create blockages in both individual household sewer lines and the wastewater treatment plant’s infrastructure.
The majority of wastewater that flows through the District’s sewer system reaches the treatment facility in a matter of hours. Wipes can take days or weeks to breakdown and can clog the homeowners’ and District’s sewer lines in the process. The GNWPCD is experiencing an influx of these non-flushable items into the system, which could lead to potentially hazardous effects including sanitary sewer backups into homes and street overflows.