Bundaberg Regional Council is urging residents to watch what they place in the toilet after reports of non-flushable items being used.
The warning comes during the widespread unavailability of toilet paper in stores after Coronavirus panic-buying had taken over in the past week.
Council Water Services Branch Manager Narelle D’Amico said with little toilet paper available on supermarket shelves, Council wanted to warn people of the implications of flushing other items.
“Things such as nappy wipes and rags are not considered as good alternatives to toilet paper,” she said.
“They can cause serious blockages which creates significant operational problems for us.”
Narelle said when items that were non-flushable ended up in the system it could take days to fix the issues caused.
“Some materials can get hooked on to roots and will start to build up a restriction causing blockages,” she said.
“Other items may entangle mechanical equipment, causing failures.
“When this happens, we have sewage blockages in the system with potential sewage overflowing in private properties, with associated health risk and environmental implication if released to natural water ways.”
Narelle said those who could not purchase toilet paper should consider alternatives that could break down in water.
“Basically, anything that is disintegrated quite quickly in water will be safe to flush during this period,” she said.
“This includes tissues and some types of paper towels.”
To find out more about what you can and can’t flush down the toilet click here.
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What to do?
A woman in a major grocery store put her hands into several bags of grapes touching the fruit and then touching her mouth.
One of the staff was told and the woman pointed out to her.
The reply to being told was “some people do all sorts of things.”
Maybe the stores now need to place grapes in 1/2 kg bags to prevent this. Many people like to taste a grape for quality before buying.
Good on you guys. It’s a crap job and as you say somebody has to do it.
The daily rag sometimes is not worth reading although now is becoming far more useful.