Consumers flushing cash down drain

Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Elna Seabrooks
ON THE JOB — Andrew Clark, left, and Chris Stewart, Houlton Water Company employees in the water and wastewater department, prepare to remove tangled paper towels and wipes clogging a sewer main.
‘Flushable’ wipes clogging sewers, raising costs
By Elna Seabrooks
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Houlton has joined several communities around the country experiencing sewer problems from clogged sewer lines and backups into homes due to so-called flushable wipes. The inconvenience and indignity of having a sewer back up into one’s home can be compounded by paying the cost to clear the line and by forking over more cash for rate hikes.
    According to John Clark, general manager of the Houlton Water Company (HWC), “a lot of these wipes are cloth-like. They do not decompose and they clog up the sewer system. So, the sewage backs up into people’s houses which creates a lot of problems for us.” Clark said the town “has had a couple of cases already. We’ve pulled the stuff out so we know what’s going in.” Recently to address the situation, HWC included a letter about the problem with monthly billing statements. He said it’s been a menace to the sewer system for about 18 months.
    “We could certainly use everyone’s cooperation because this drives up our costs. We have a lot more maintenance and a lot more work to do. So, we have to pass that cost on to our customers. So, nobody wins,” Clark said.
A growing problem
    Out in the field, Brian McGuire and his team face the reality first-hand. Although the team does routine maintenance to keep things flowing, they still  have emergency calls and invited the Pioneer Times to go along when a homeowner had a problem.
Contributed Photo
BEWARE THE CLOG — In the above phtoto these tangled paper towels and wipes were in one of Houlton’s sewer mains. In the photo below the clog is being pulled out.
    “Each sewer main has cleanouts. We go in like this one here that’s plugged off with those hand towels and wipes,” said McGuire, HWC water and wastewater superintendent. He explained that the consistency of many paper towels and especially the “flushable wipes” causes them to attach to each other and “grow” because they don’t dissolve like toilet paper.
    “Those wipes will grow six-feet long. Here, they grew so long they completely plugged the main off and caused the sewer main to back up. They are getting down in our sewer pumps and they’re plugging our sewer pumps off. And, it makes it hard for us to treat it at the sewer plant with all that heavy paper.” said McGuire. He added that Houlton is not alone. “Other towns are running into the same problem. It’s not just here.”

Don’t flush towels or wipes
    “A lot of people flush paper towels and hand wipes,” said McGuire. Sometimes, he said, people may be trying to cut back on the amount of trash they take to the transfer station.
    “The towels and wipes can plug the sewer main. They attach to each other like Velcro. And, paper towels don’t dissolve. They aren’t like toilet paper or tissue. Toilet paper will dissolve.  But, Bounty or any paper towel is not designed to float. It will sink and cause problems with the pumps,” explained McGuire. He said the only thing designed to go into the sewer system is toilet paper, water and body waste.
    This year, Clark succeeded in negotiating a better rate for electricity customers. But, that could end up being a wash, so to speak, on the consumer side. The potential for passing along costs related to general  maintenance for HWC’s water and sewer customers is real. For homeowners, Clark warned: “If the back up is in the service to the house, we charge for our time and use of the equipment while we are there.”