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Wastewater Woes

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February 16, 2006
Recently there have been some concerns from the Wastewater Treatment facility. It seems that there has been a large amount of debris making their way into the sanitary sewer line. Just for clarification, the sanitary sewer is where you wastewater goes when it leaves your house. You receive a bill from the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Every time you flush the toilet, brush your teeth, or do your laundry, or other things like that, your water is considered wastewater.

Items that should NEVER go into your toilet:

• Anything that is plastic, plastic items are not biodegradable, and will never break down in the sewer system, they can get stuck from your house to the treatment plant, or cause problems with the equipment at the plant.
• Baby wipes, or disposable cleaning wipes, while these items may degrade over time, they are not in the sewer system long enough to degrade and therefore, they just cause clogs at the treatment plant.
• Diapers, diapers should never be flushed; they are too large to go through the sanitary sewer system and the plastic in the diaper will never break down. Also, the stuff that is supposed to prevent leaks in diapers expands when wet, and has harmful chemicals in it. If you flush a diaper, it's most likely going to cause problems even before it leaves your home.
• Antibiotics and other medications, these items can cause problems later in the sanitary system when the treatment plant it trying to clean the water.

Items that should NEVER go down the drain:

• Grease, grease from cooking hardens when it cools and can clog your drain, or cause a clog further down the sewer line.
• Food items, food items can also cause blockages in the sewer system.
• Fluids from automotives, things like motor oil can be recycled, and antifreeze and other vehicle fluids can be saved for disposal at HHW days.

By keeping the City's sanitary sewer clean and in well working order, we can keep the costs of maintenance down. Please keep in mind that any of the items mentioned can cause problems at the treatment plant, or in the sewer on the way to the plant. If you have any questions about what you can put down the drain or flush down the toilet, please feel free to contact me at the Public Works Office at 282-1552 or by email at sbernier@sacomaine.org.