The consumption of wet wipes has risen sharply. Screens and rakes in the city's sewer network therefore have to be laboriously cleared of clumped wipes on a regular basis. In some systems, malfunctions occur on a weekly basis. Wet wipes are extremely tear-resistant and sometimes form meter-long tangles in the sewer system. The employees then have to pull these out of the wastewater pumps.
There are also problems at the sewage treatment plant:
- Wet wipes float to the surface in the clarifiers
- thereby reducing the oxygen and
- and thus disrupt the clarification process.
Pipes, pumps and overflows also become blocked in the sewage treatment plant. Normal toilet paper dissolves and does not cause these problems. Blocked sewers and sewage pumps also increase energy consumption and therefore lead to higher costs.
