York Region should ban sale of baby and hand wipes: Markham councillor

$1 million annual cost on sewers requires 'outrageous' step: Coun. Jack Heath

Yorkregion.com
June 24, 2019
Lisa Queen

Wait, before you pull that handle, Markham Coun. Jack Heath wants to flush out what you’re putting down the toilet.

He’s floating the idea of having York Region crack down on products sold as flushable, such as baby wipes and hand wipes.

After all, it’s costing the region more than $1 million a year to get rid of stuff that’s not number one, number two or toilet paper bunging up the sewers.

“Why don’t we take the outrageous step and say they (flushable products) are banned and go have our staff start removing them (from stores)?” Heath said at the June 13 regional council meeting.

The move would be controversial, he acknowledged.

“Of course, we’ll create a court case. Of course we’ll be into matters of (critics saying), ‘You have no jurisdiction’ etc., etc., and it will be on the front page. And, quickly, Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal and other bigger organizations will weigh in and say, ‘We have this problem, too.’ I think that’s the only way to make a step forward on this.”

All kinds of things are flushed down toilets and sinks that shouldn’t be, a report from the region’s Environmental Services commissioner, Erin Mahoney, said.

That includes fats, oils and grease from cooking, paper towels, cotton swabs, dental floss, feminine hygiene products and prophylactics.

“Wipes are uniquely problematic because manufacturers label certain wipes are flushable, contradicting messaging from wastewater authorities,” Mahoney said.

“Improperly disposing of these items can block pipes and bind pumps, causing damage and sewage backups, resulting in increased maintenance costs along with health, safety and environmental risks.”

Wastewater authorities pooh-pooh wipes because they wind around each other and combine with fats, oils and greases and other objects to create large blockages, Mahoney said.

“Manufacturers have been marketing many types of wipes as flushable despite evidence from wastewater experts that wipes labelled as flushable may require several flushes and do not break down fast enough, resulting in issues in wastewater infrastructure,” she said.

The region, which has screens and choppers to remove improperly disposed items, spends more than $1 million a year to get these items out of its sewers.

And the problem is getting worse.

“Over the last several years, York Region staff have noticed an increasing number of issues in wastewater infrastructure caused by masses of improperly disposed wipes,” Mahoney said.

“In the last five years, staff increased preventive maintenance programs and the frequency of screen cleanings, while responding to over 110 blockages caused by improperly disposed products.”

Local municipal sewer pipes are smaller in diameter than the region’s, meaning towns and cities appear to deal with even more blockages, Mahoney said.

York Region is not alone.

Toronto had a 10 per cent increase in calls from people complaining about blocked sewage lines from 2015 to 2018.

Across Canada, the cost of dealing with wipes causing problems in sewers is at least $250 million a year, the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association estimates.

Despite specifications agreed to a year ago by the International Water Services Flushability Group, wipe manufacturers continue to use their own less rigorous standards, Mahoney said.

An April Ryerson University report concluded flushable wipes “wreak havoc” on household plumbing and municipal sewers.

The study tested 23 products available in stores in southern Ontario that were labelled as flushable and found all failed to meet the flushability group’s specifications.

No Canadian municipalities ban wipes but many have bylaws that prohibit putting foreign materials in sewers, something York Region will look at as it updates its sewer use bylaw next year.

But enforcing the bylaw in residents’ homes would be intrusive and impractical, Mahoney said.

However, Heath argued municipalities regulate many things regarding public property, including imposing restrictions on garbage disposal.

Once residents’ actions adversely impact public property, municipal governments should step in, he said.

Residents should be educated on the proper way to dispose of their waste, Mahoney said.

Wipes, dental floss and cotton swabs go in household garbage.

Personal hygiene products such as tissues, diapers, toothpicks, hair, nail clippings and sanitary products go in the green bin.

Fats, oils and grease also go in the green bin.

Pharmaceuticals should be returned to the drugstore.