Throwing waste such as wet wipes, personal hygiene products, cooking oils or medicines down the toilet or sink is an increasingly common practice in Spanish households, which has serious economic and environmental consequences, as it causes huge blockages and breakdowns and pollutes the environment.
With the aim of tackling this problem, the town councils of Vila-real and Betxí have launched together with FACSA - a Grupo Gimeno company responsible for the Waste Control and Inspection Service in the towns - the citizen awareness campaign 'The toilet is not a garbage dump', which seeks to change the habit of throwing waste down the toilet and raise awareness about the consequences of this practice.
In this regard, Francisco Valverde, Councilor for Public Services of the Vila-real City Council, reminded everyone that flushing this type of waste down the toilet has serious consequences for the sewer system. “The accumulation of sanitary wipes can cause blockages in the network, as actually happened about a year ago, when a blockage caused by used oil and wipes flushed down the toilet, combined with a period of heavy rain, led to a sewer overflow in one area of the city. This caused obvious inconvenience for residents and incurred the cost of the emergency cleanup. If we all become more aware and avoid flushing used wipes and garbage down the toilet, we can improve the functioning of the network, reduce inconvenience and costs to the public treasury, and, of course, continue building more sustainable and environmentally friendly cities,” Valverde stated.
To do this, the organizations have designed an informative leaflet - distributed among the residents of the municipalities - that graphically and directly illustrates the effects of throwing waste down the toilet or sink instead of putting it in the bin, so that citizens are aware of the repercussions their actions have beyond possible damage to their homes.
“Through the department managed by Deputy Mayor Ángel Badenas, we have reached an agreement with the company to launch this campaign which seeks to change the habit of throwing waste down the toilet and raise awareness about the consequences of this practice,” explained the Mayor of Onda, Ximo Huguet.
In this regard, FACSA has issued a warning about the serious problems that disposing of this type of waste causes to infrastructure. As Ernesto Santateresa, head of the wastewater disposal department within the company's sanitation and treatment division, pointed out, "This waste clogs the sewer system, causing potential overflows of wastewater into waterways, public roads, and even homes, and increases the maintenance costs of the sewer and wastewater treatment networks.".
Similarly, the leaflet includes a practical guide on which products should not be flushed down the toilet and the appropriate place to dispose of them.
But this problem also affects the environment, since certain wastes contain what are called 'emerging contaminants of concern', which cannot be eliminated in treatment plants and end up in waterways and seas polluting the environment.
Commitment
With this new initiative, FACSA is expanding its 'Wipes Chaos' campaign, which it launched in the province to raise awareness of the risks associated with the improper disposal of these products. Now, by extending its advice to other types of household waste, the company reaffirms its commitment to integrated water management and takes another step towards promoting public awareness and better maintenance of pipes and sewer systems.
