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Regional Water Resource Agency officials are saying disposable wipes marketed as “flushable” cause blockages resulting in needed repair work of Owensboro’s combined sewer system.

Regional Water Resource Agency officials are saying disposable wipes marketed as “flushable” cause blockages resulting in needed repair work of Owensboro’s combined sewer system.

The Regional Water Resource Agency (RWRA) is still dealing with so-called flushable wipes clogging its pipes and pumps, despite recent class action lawsuit settlements and promises by manufacturers to make their product more dissolvable.

“Our maintenance crew gets called out constantly, every week,” RWRA Operations Director Victor Cernius said of the flushable wipes, which do not break down in the system in the same way as toilet paper.

Along with clogging sewer pipes, the wipes also can wrap around propellers at RWRA pump stations, Cernius said.

“We started going into cutter-style propellers just tot try to deal with this,” he said.

In February, the U.S. District Court of South Carolina approved a settlement agreement between wipes manufacturer Kimberly-Clark and the Charleston Water System, requiring the company to bring its product into compliance with the flushability standards developed by international municipal wastewater associations.

Two months later, Kimberly-Clark — which makes wipes under the Kleenex brand — also settled a lawsuit with consumers, in which it agreed to pay $20 million to people who bought the product.

Meanwhile, states including Illinois, Oregon, and Washington have enacted legislation that requires wipe manufacturers to clearly label “do not flush” on their products.

But Cernius says the clogging problems continue for RWRA.

“I’ve not seen any drop-off in it,” he said.

Cernius said the RWRA was invited via a mail notice to join one of the class action lawsuits, but declined to do so because the agency hasn’t been keeping track of how many of its clogs have been caused by flushable wipes versus other trash or material. Instead, the agency will continue to rely on public outreach to mitigate the problem.

“I’m constantly posting articles and informational posters about what to flush and not flush,” he said. “If people knew the damage that these wipes can cause, I have faith they wouldn’t be flushing them.”

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