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City wastewater staff warn wipes clog system and say repairs are costly
Summary
Bullhead City wastewater staff warned that nonflushable wipes and other debris are clogging pumps and causing repeated repairs; staff cited pump-replacement costs and urged residents to flush only human waste, toilet paper and gray water.
John Trequato, an employee in Bullhead City's wastewater division, urged residents to stop flushing disposable wipes and other items into the sewer system, saying such debris plugs pumps and forces costly repairs.
"Please do not flush any disposable or non-disposable wipes, baby wipes, paper towels, napkins, or any other paper or non-paper products as this will cause a major sewer backup," Trequato said. "These clumps of stuff... plug our pumps and then it's labor and pulling the pump and labor and diagnosing it." (John Trequato, wastewater division)
Trequato described the types of material the treatment plant receives — wipes, plastic bags, razors, pencils, candy wrappers and tampon plastic applicators — and said those items are intended for the trash. He said the city has had to replace pumps and that the ongoing problem carries a large price tag: in the segment Trequato said the cost impact could be a minimum of "$4,050,000 dollars of taxpayers dollars" if problems continue.
City wastewater staff emphasized that sewer systems are designed for three items only: human waste, toilet paper and gray water, and asked residents to dispose of other items in the trash. Contacts and additional information were provided in the city's information items.
The segment presented Trequato's operational description and his estimate; the program did not include an independent accounting of cumulative repair totals or a departmental budget line item to verify the cited dollar figure.
