The City of Mission, British Columbia, has issued an unusual reminder to its residents: Don’t flush clothes.
“Over the holidays, public works crews discovered a pair of sweatpants had caused a large blockage in one of the city’s sewer pipes,” the city said in a social media post Wednesday.
“To get here, the clothes were probably flushed down the toilet.”
In a statement, the city said its workers removed many items from its sewer system that had not been there over the years, including food wrappers, dental floss, diapers and leftover food.
The city said crews “quickly got to work” removing the sweatpants and repairing the damage they caused, but the latest incident served as a “good reminder” that only human waste and toilet paper should be disposed of.
Even so-called flushable wipes can wreak havoc on the system and lead to costly repairs, the city said.
“Our collection system, pipes and wastewater treatment plant work best when they’re processing what they’re designed to do,” Colin McLean, the city’s utilities operations manager, said in the statement.
“This is a friendly reminder to stay sewer aware for the good of our system. This will ensure that everyone in the community continues to receive optimal sewerage service at all times.”
The mission concluded its statement with the following list of items that should not be flushed down the toilet or down the drain:
- baby wipes
- “flushable” wipes
- feminine hygiene products
- bandages and wraps
- condoms and packaging
- cotton balls
- swabs and Q-tips
- dental floss
- hair
- diapers
- facial tissue
- hypodermic needles
- medicines
- vitamins
- supplements
- cat toilet
- chemicals and solvents
- packs of cigarettes
- leftover food
- coffee grounds
- disposable powder heads
- fruit stickers
- fats, oils and fats
- paint
- paper towels
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