Grace Kirchner, Leader Correspondent
Photo by Grace Kirchner Dave Tichinel, center, Clintonville water and wastewater manager, leads a group of city officials on a tour of the new wastewater treatment plant under construction.
Dave Tichinel, water/wastewater manager for the city of Clintonville, is asking residents to refrain from flushing wipes down the toilet.
City Administrator Sharon Eveland, meanwhile, has added a new reminder to the city’s Facebook page: “No wipes in the pipes.”
During a recent tour with city officials of the wastewater treatment plant that is under construction, Tichinel said wipes have become a major problem for the utility.
“The worst thing is the disposable wipes,” he said. “Don’t flush them down the toilet. We need to get that word out, and that’s something that goes into our utility bill. The wipes are to be disposed of in the garbage. Flushing them down the toilet will plug the pumps up faster than anything.”
Tichinel said the wastewater staff had recently cleaned out the oxidation ditch and found large piles of wipes that the system could not process. The pile was so large that the staff had to push it with a skid steer to where it could be sucked out.
Tichinel said that packages might say the wipes are disposable, but they are not.
Construction of the treatment plant is ahead of schedule and could be completed in December.