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Australia's Pipes Are Clogging As People Use Toilet Paper Alternatives

Australia's Pipes Are Clogging As People Use Toilet Paper Alternatives

Some people haven't been able to use normal loo roll amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Australian water authorities are warning people not to flush things down the loo unless it's human waste or toilet paper.

With many Aussies failing to snap up enough dunny roll amid the coronavirus pandemic, loads of people are resorting to using alternatives like baby wipes and paper towels.

But clogs are starting to form as a result and people are being told to stop using alternatives now or face some pretty messy consequences.

SA Water

South Australia Water has uploaded some rank pictures showing a pipe literally bursting under the pressure while a tank shows all the mess that hasn't made it through the system.

Anna Jackson from SA Water told 10 News First: "The three Ps -- the paper, the poo and the pee can all go in the toilet. anything else, please put it in the bin.

"Whether its wet wipes, paper towels or baby wipes, they will block up the sewer network.

According to the ABC, SA Water spends $400,000 a year on removing fatbergs, which is the technical term for 'a very large mass of solid waste in a sewerage system, consisting especially of congealed fat and personal hygiene products'.

A dried section of the Whitechapel fatberg, on display at the Museum of London.
Lord Belbury (Creative Commons)

Sydney Water has also been warning people about the dangers of putting anything but the three Ps into the system.

In a press release, the water authority said that some items might not work as intended.

"Even though wet wipes might state that they are flushable on their packaging, the reality is that they don't break down and cause blockages in Sydney Water's wastewater pipes as a result," a Sydney Water spokesperson said.

"Wipes can cause system chokes and damage to private sewer pipes. One Sydney resident reported a $16,000 plumbing bill to repair her private sewer pipes caused by her flushing wet wipes."

But plumbers are already starting to see the issue build up in individual homes across Australia.

Plumber Andrew Farron says the demand right now to fix people's pipes has been unprecedented in his 43 years in the industry.

"Every day I get another blocked drain purely from hand towel and wet wipes," Farron told 10 News First.

"This is the first time I've seen it at this particular increase in my life.

"They're normally old or working all the time and can't get to the shops at normal times...so we just have to get on and do the job really."

So if you need another reason not to hoard toilet paper, this should be it. Let everyone have their loo roll so that we don't have issues with all our pipes.

Featured Image Credit: SA Water

Topics: News, Australia