Pager among peculiar objects clogging drains
It’s a warning nobody should have to issue: the ‘‘three Ps’’ are OK to flush down the toilet, but your pager is not one of the Ps.
Nevertheless, that is essentially what Wellington Water has had to do after someone flushed a pager down a Wellington toilet, where it became stuck among all manner of pure grimness.
While it does answer one question – what happened to all those pagers from the 1980s – it does pose more: Why? How? Who?
According to Wellington Water, and all known logic, there are three Ps that should go down toilets: poos, pees, and [toilet] paper.
A pager, while it did start with the letter ‘P’, was a ‘‘classic’’ example of what not to flush. This one was pulled from a Porirua pump station.
‘‘These cause blockages and can damage the wastewater network. If the damage happens within your property boundary it can cost you a lot in plumber bills to fix,’’ Wellington Water said.
Spokesman Alex van Paassen said of all the items that should not be flushed but still were, disposable wipes topped the list.
Other peculiarities pulled from our sewage system included clothing such as jeans, shorts, underwear, money, and toys – both children’s and adults’.
But there was also a serious side to it. The items could cause blockages, which could lead to wastewater backing up.
Rather than going back up and out into streets and homes it was designed to enter storm water drains and go out to sea.