{"id":31487,"date":"2020-04-09T00:43:47","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T14:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/epa-urges-people-to-think-before-they-flush\/"},"modified":"2020-04-09T00:43:47","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T14:43:47","slug":"epa-urges-people-to-think-before-they-flush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/epa-urges-people-to-think-before-they-flush\/","title":{"rendered":"EPA urges people to think before they flush"},"content":{"rendered":"

ENVIRONMENT Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) is urging Victorians to \u201cthink before they flush\u201d.
\nToilet paper has been hard to get in supermarkets as a result of increased demand during the coronavirus pandemic, and the EPA has concerns the use of products such as wet wipes, tissues or paper towels as alternatives could put pressure on the state\u2019s sewers and domestic wastewater systems.
\nPeople should only flush the three P\u2019s down the toilet \u2013 Pee, Poo and toilet Paper.
\nIf Victorians don\u2019t have toilet paper to use, then the alternatives should be disposed of in the main household waste bin.
\nSewers are not designed to handle wet wipes, tissues and paper towels. They clump together forming thick mounds called \u201cfatbergs\u201d, which cause blockages or damage to infrastructure. This leads to sewer spills that affect the environment and can create a public health issue.
\nEPA<\/a> deputy chief environmental scientist Dr Dan Evans said wet wipes might be marked as \u201cflushable\u201d but that did not guarantee they would biodegrade and not cause pollution to the environment.
\n\u201cSewer spills of wet wipes, litter, paper towels and tissues can get caught up in vegetation in drains and cause water quality issues.
\n\u201cAn increase in water pollution can be potentially harmful to animals, birds, fish and other aquatic life, as well as causing
\nodour.\u201d
\nBarwon Water recently ran a campaign, \u201cDon\u2019t Flush It!\u201d, promoting a similar message.
\nMembers of the public can report all types of pollution by phoning the EPA 24-hour hotline on 1300 EPA VIC (1300 372 842).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ENVIRONMENT Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) is urging Victorians to \u201cthink before they flush\u201d. Toilet paper has been hard to get in supermarkets as a result of increased demand during the coronavirus pandemic, and the EPA has concerns the use of products such as wet wipes, tissues or paper towels as alternatives could put pressure on […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":31488,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-31487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEPA urges people to think before they flush - Geelong Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/epa-urges-people-to-think-before-they-flush\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EPA urges people to think before they flush - Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ENVIRONMENT Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) is urging Victorians to \u201cthink before they flush\u201d. 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