"Next time you go to toss that 'flushable' wipe in the toilet, you might want to consider a request from your sewer utility: Don’t."

"Sewer agencies in the Washington area and across the country say the rapidly growing use of pre-moistened 'personal' wipes — used most often by potty-training toddlers and people seeking what’s advertised as a more 'thorough' cleaning than toilet paper — are clogging pipes and jamming pumps.

 Utilities struggling with aging infrastructure have wrestled for years with the problem of 'ragging' — when baby wipes, dental floss , paper towels and other items not designed for flushing entangle sewer pumps.

The latest menace, officials say, is that wipes and other products, including pop-off scrubbers on toilet-cleaning wands, are increasingly being marketed as 'flushable.' Even ever-thickening, super-soft toilet paper is worrisome because it takes longer to disintegrate, some say."

Katherine Shaver reports for the Washington Post September 7, 2013. [2]