
In Fatberg Fight, NYC Goes to War Against Flushable Wipes - hourislate
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-03-15/what-s-a-fatberg-nyc-goes-to-war-against-flushable-toilet-wipes
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CM30
Given the issue is caused by a difference in standards, of which none of the
'flushable' wipes really pass, it seems the obvious solution would be to:

A: Ban all existing 'flushable' wipes and force a recall on those in shops,
since they clearly don't work as intended.

B: Set out government regulations for what counts as flushable based on how
the water system actually works rather than how the companies are currently
testing.

If they're not truly flushable, then they shouldn't be legal to sell as such,
period.

~~~
Volundr
Harder since it involves changing people's behavior, but even more effective:
bring back bidets. Better cleaning, and reduce waste.

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agurk
I've read about these problems many times, and the official response always
seems to be to encourage people not to flush them. I've not seen any numbers,
but as these articles continue it hasn't yet fixed the problem.

There also doesn't seem to been an increase in the number of available bins in
toilets, certainly in fatberg affected London. Perhaps a campaign for more
bins in public spaces (including offices) would be a start.

Judging by comments from people who use them they'd be resistant to going back
to dry wiping. Another option would be a campaign to install bidets like in
Japan or hand water jets like Finland to provide better cleaning without the
wipes.

~~~
jak92

      Another option would be a campaign to install bidets
    

That would be nice. I hate having to use public restrooms due to lack of
bidet.

~~~
airstrike
Grab paper towels before going in, wet them with the faucet and boom. You have
wet wipes. Just try to tear the paper towels in half before using them and you
should be fine.

~~~
jandrese
Paper towels aren't any better than "flushable" wipes.

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WhatIsDukkha
Bidets are a thing -

[https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A0RHSJO/](https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A0RHSJO/)

~~~
usaphp
I've never understood a hygiene factor of bidets, do you basically wipe your
fecal matter with your hands + water? At my office I notice a lot of people
don't even wash their hands after they used a toilet, I can't imagine how bad
for other's in the office it would be if we had bidets - if they cleaned their
butt with their hands instead of a toilet paper and then go to kitchen... We
share kitchen afterall with these people...Maybe I don't understand how bidets
work?

~~~
reubenmorais
You don’t understand how they work. The bidet does the initial and most of the
cleaning, then you finish off/dry yourself with toilet paper. You use way less
paper though and feel way cleaner.

~~~
hgjwq
It's... interesting to read this. What I usually do is that I clean my butt
with toilet paper until it comes out white, I throw that paper in the toilet,
then I wash my butt with soap and water, then I dry it with a towel. I wonder
if I'm the weird one?

~~~
Volundr
I hate to tell you this, I think you are. Most people stop after the toilet
paper.

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ams6110
I don't get the use of wipes. I have no trouble cleaning myself with regular
toilet paper, which is designed to quickly disintegrate when wet. I don't
understand what problem these are solving. If your stool is so soft/sticky
that large amounts remain after you've used the toilet, requiring a pre-
moistened cleaning towel to remove, you might want to look into changing your
diet.

~~~
pytyper2
Clean is a relative term. The reasoning is the same that you use to justify
washing your hands with a mixture of soap and water, wipes allow you to use
this same process to remove the fecal matter from your backside. If you missed
while wiping with some single ply at a rest stop, would you clean your hand
with only a dry towel? No, you would use soap and water. Even though you can't
see large gobs of fecal matter it is still there. You try to make a strange
point, the fact that some people don't use water to clean after is generally
something that is reluctantly accepted, it is unusual to for someone argue
that wiping without soap/water is just fine and to be preferred.

~~~
rconti
There's the minor difference of what I do with my nether regions versus what I
do with my hands.

~~~
pytyper2
Out of sight out of mind I guess.

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gumby
These should better be referred to as "so-called 'flushable' wipes". I'm not
sure you could really get a FTC action to prevent the word "flushable" being
used my the manufacturer (after all, technically you trv _can_ flush lego or
an M-80 down the toilet) but it's really terrible that they continue to print
that phrase on the box.

~~~
minikites
Lots of things are technically edible but can't be sold as such, I don't see
why this would be any different.

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wdbbdw
Instead of wipes, I take a small bunch of tp and just wet it from the faucet
before going into the stall. Not as problematic as the wipe, flushable, and
cleans better than the dry tp by itself.

~~~
jak92
Doesn't work in public restrooms where they used the cheapest possible tp.

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athenot
I'm on a sceptic system so I'm highly incentivized to not flush anything
problematic… it will be mine to deal with.

But I am still amazed at all the work the water reclamation plants do, to
somehow deal with all that is thrown at them through the pipes.

{{ Insert joke about piping to /dev/null }}

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mc32
This wouldn’t be a problem in much of Asia.

People are used to throwing their toilet paper (and wipes) in trash bins
rather than flushing them down the toilets along with excreta.

~~~
ltjes
That's disgusting. I don't want to have a bin full of shit stains next to my
toilet.

~~~
fcarraldo
This is common in Africa and the Middle East, too. The plumbing systems
weren't built with paper waste in mind. You don't throw "shit stains" in the
bin, you use a hose or bidet to wash, then dry with paper, and throw the paper
in the bin.

Pretty straightforward, and not disgusting.

~~~
ltjes
Why would you dry with paper, when you can just use a cloth towel?

~~~
cimmanom
In a shared or public restroom? Eew.

~~~
ltjes
Ah! I was thinking of being home.

I don't care about public restrooms, I can take a shit in the middle of the
bathroom if I want to.

~~~
darkpuma
> _" I can take a shit in the middle of the bathroom if I want to."_

That would be exceedingly inconsiderate, possibly criminal.

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jedberg
I don't understand why the don't just put big shredders at the inputs to the
treatment plants (and maybe along the main pipes). Shred everything to small
bits, and then the heavy stuff sinks and light stuff floats, and then you can
skim the top and bottom to get it out.

~~~
TylerE
The whole problem is they make massive blobs ("fatbergs") in the pipes and
thus never get anywhere NEAR the plants.

~~~
jedberg
The article starts off with a story of a man who clears large debris from an
intake filter at the processing plant. I was suggesting replacing him with a
shredder.

Also, that's why I suggested shredders in the pipes, for the same reason.

~~~
cpeterso
EBMUD in the Bay Area offers free tours of their water treatment plant in
Emeryville. Very cool if you are interested in infrastructure and don't mind
some bad smells. :)

[https://www.ebmud.com/wastewater/collection-
treatment/wastew...](https://www.ebmud.com/wastewater/collection-
treatment/wastewater-treatment-plant-tours/)

~~~
jedberg
Maybe I will! I actually toured a treatment plant in LA when I was in
elementary school, but I could probably ask better questions now. :)

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gumby
Why don't they have the same problem in Germany where the use of wipes is
extremely common?

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jrootabega

       After Washington, D.C., enacted a law in 2017 to prevent manufacturers from labeling wet wipes as flushable, Kimberly-Clark turned around and sued D.C.’s mayor and attorney general. It contended the measure would violate the company’s right to free speech.
    
    
    

Good Lord. I'm hoping there's some more subtlety to that. At first blush it's
hard to see the difference between claiming you're flushable and claiming your
pills cure cancer.

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praseodym
From the article:

> London has infamously suffered the largest fatberg specimens, one about 15
> semi-trucks long, mostly made up of cooking grease and now partly exhibited
> in a museum. New York City has largely avoided the monstrosities by removing
> unwanted items before they enter the plant [..]

Isn’t the problem the blockage in the sewers to the treatment plant itself?

~~~
51lver
The problem can be anywhere downstream of the can. After a vacation, I pulled
12 out of a cleanout T in my yard from a house-sitter we won't be using
again...

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fatjokes
Fatberg will be the word of 2019. I first heard of it earlier this year about
something in the UK and now it's everywhere.

~~~
hombre_fatal
These articles have been coming out for a while:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatberg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatberg)

It was added to OxfordDictionaries.com in 2015.

