Preventing blocked sewers

Preventing blocked sewers

It's important to only flush water, sewage, and toilet paper down your toilets to avoid clogging the pipes. 

Anything else can stop the sewage from flowing properly and cause blockages. Fixing a blockage in a sewer pipe, whether it's on your property or public property, can be expensive.

So, be careful and take precautions to prevent this from happening.

Do not put these items down your toilets, sinks or drains

  • ‘Flushable’ wet wipes
  • Disposable nappies
  • Tampons, pads and condoms
  • Empty toilet rolls
  • Tissues, paper napkins, paper towel and newspaper
  • Cotton buds, make-up pads and band-aids
  • Cloth tea towels, rags and clothing including underwear
  • Single-use face masks and gloves
  • Medicines
  • Food waste, such as vegetable peelings and food scraps
  • Cooking oils, fats and milk
  • Plastics
  • Engine oils and grease
  • Paint and paint solvents such as turpentine
  • Pesticides
  • Vapes and cigarettes

Here are some great tips:

  • Put a rubbish bin next to the toilet and talk to your family about what can and cannot be flushed down the toilet.
  • Put empty toilet rolls, newspapers, paper and cardboard packaging and hard plastics in your yellow-lid recycling bin.
  • Put food scraps in your compost or green-lid FOGO bin.
  • Pour cooking oils, fats and milk into a sealed container and put them in the bin. Wipe your oily pots and pans down with paper towel and put the towel in the bin.
  • Put hazardous household waste such as paint, solvents, pesticides, engine oils and grease in sealed containers and take to the Community Recycling Centre – we have one at each waste depot/landfill.
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