Woolworths highlights 'important' toilet problem amid pandemic

Woolworths is helping to alert shoppers to an “important” toilet issue plaguing sewerage systems in Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March, customers were seen panic buying toilet paper and food staples before the country imposed social distancing restrictions on residents and banned large gatherings.

After the toilet paper shelves emptied across hundreds of stores, many shoppers purchased tissues, paper towels and wet wipes to fill the gap.

However, Woolworths is urging customers to please avoid flushing such items down the toilet based on the advice of Water Services Association of Australia.

Signs bearing the tag “non-flushables” have been pictured attached in front of tissues, paper towels and wet wipes at the supermarket chain’s stores.

“On recent advice from Water Services Association of Australia, we ask you please do not flush anything apart from toilet paper down the toilet,” it reads.

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The Water Services Association of Australia thanked Woolworths for helping to get the message out there in a Twitter post on Wednesday.

“With toilet paper and other products in high demand, it's important to remember that only the 3Ps should be flushed down the toilet – pee, poo and toilet paper,” it read.

“A big thanks to Woolworths for helping spread the message!”

Why are they a problem?

Wet wipes, paper towel and tissues can create “fatbergs”, giant blockages that need to be removed from wastewater systems – costing some cities millions of dollars.

“Wastewater systems are designed for human waste and toilet paper. Toilet paper breaks down quickly but while wet wipes may clear your toilet bowl, they do not break down quickly enough for our wastewater systems. This can lead to blockages and overflows into homes and creeks,” WSAA said in a toilet paper fact sheet.

“The exact cost of pipe blockages, disruption to customers and impacts on the environment are difficult to estimate accurately.

“Customers who flush wipes pay a high price when they need to fix blockages on their own property. However, it's not just cost, it is also the impacts on the environment when wipes are found in rivers and on beaches.”

Earlier this month, the Gold Coast’s city council reminded locals not deposit wipes in the toilet, even if packaging on products claimed it was “flushable”.

“As the toilet paper crisis continues to unfold, we wanted to share an important reminder about flushable wet wipes,” the council wrote on Facebook alongside a picture of a fatberg.

Why do some wet wipes claim they’re flushable?

A Twitter user noticed in one of the pictures from Woolworths that the wet wipes’ packaging says the product is flushable.

The WSAA said it is working on developing a new Australian Standard that “that will include pass/fail criteria along with appropriate labelling requirements”.

“An Australian Standard will provide manufacturers with clear specifications to design products that are compatible with wastewater networks,” it explained in the fact sheet.

A draft will be available to the public in the coming months.

Last year, The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took producer of “flushable” wet wipes brand Kimberly-Clark Australia to court, accusing it of misleading customers.

The Federal Court dismissed the case in June 2019, but an appeal was heard in February and a decision is still pending, the WSAA said.

Images released by Sydney Water last year show the severity of blockages caused by the wipes.

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