WEF Highlights

In New Hampshire, the City of Keene worked with local high school students to create a music video for “Don’t Flush That,” a song featuring a manhole superhero and set to the tune of Bruce Springsteen’s “Pink Cadillac.” Lyrics advise against flushing used baby wipes; cloth and paper rags; fats, oils, and grease; and plastic […]

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a final consent order with Nice-Pak Products Inc. that requires the company to stop advertising moist toilet tissue and cloth as flushable or safe for sewer or septic systems unless it can substantiate those claims. In May 2015, FTC filed a complaint that Nice-Pak violated the FTC Act […]

Staff at NEW Water, the brand of the Green Bay (Wis.) Metropolitan Sewerage District, have created a holiday-themed video featuring a song called “O Love Your Pipes” sung to the tune of “O Christmas Tree,” to relay the importance of not flushing wipes or putting grease and certain other items down the drain. In the […]

The Singing Sewermen of Thames Water (London) have recorded several humorous holiday-themed videos asking London citizens to avoid washing turkey grease down the drain during the holiday season. Photo courtesy of Thames Water. The celebrated Singing Sewermen of Thames Water (London) released their “debut single” in 2009 — a revision of the classic carol “God […]

On June 17, the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) submitted comments to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concerning wipe manufacturers’ claims of their product’s “flushability” and about how these products should be labeled. The comments were related to a proposed FTC consent agreement with Nice-Pak Products Inc. (Orangeburg, N.Y.). WEF’s comments support the […]

A group of five associations, representing the water sector and the nonwoven fabrics industry, announced March 19 that they are working collaboratively to develop a new edition of guidelines. These guidelines will influence product design and support the marketing of nonwoven products as “flushable” with no adverse effects on wastewater systems. The associations also announced […]

The Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) now features a webcast of the month on the WEF YouTube channel. Every month a new webcast will be featured. View the first two featured webcasts, Operational Optimization in Wastewater Utilities and Flushable or Not? Dispersing the Non-Dispersible Problem, to learn how utilities are leveraging different methods to […]

Many wastewater treatment professionals agree that clogged pipes can cause big and costly problems. As these problems arise, Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) members are documenting costs spent on maintenance and repairs and are working to identify culprits. Clogs from items that do not belong in water resource recovery facility (WRRF) flows are not […]