Clogged, not forgotten: The hidden reality when you flush wipes

It’s two in the morning when Brian White’s phone rings.

A fellow operator at West Point Treatment Plant in Seattle is calling with bad news: The Hidden Lake Pump Station in Shoreline is rapidly losing capacity. If the problem continues, it could lead to a sewer overflow.

Within minutes, White — an offsite wastewater operator for West Section — is out of bed and behind the wheel, heading into the darkness to protect public health and Puget Sound.

As he drives, White already has a pretty good idea of what he’s about to find.

“At this particular pump station and others in the area, we are finding high amounts of materials that shouldn’t be flushed down the toilets,” White says.

The culprit is usually what’s known as a “rag ball” — a tangled mass of disposable wipes, hygiene products, paper towels, candy wrappers, and other items that don’t belong in the sewer system.

For White and his fellow offsite operators, the Hidden Lake Pump Station has become all too familiar. While many pump stations operate for weeks without incident, this one keeps crews busy, with operators responding to wipe-related clogs at least once a week.

“This pump station is a frequent flyer,” he says. “I’ve had weeks where I’ve been here four days during my workweek, and then still get called out over the weekend because of rag issues.”

Keeping wastewater moving

Hidden Lake has capacity to handle 5.5 million gallons of wastewater a day. It’s one of 48 pump stations King County operates and maintains across our regional wastewater system.

These facilities perform a critical job. Wastewater naturally flows downhill, but when it reaches a low point, pump stations lift it back uphill so it can continue its journey to one of our treatment plants.

When a pump can’t do its job because it’s clogged, the consequences can be catastrophic.

By the time White arrives, it’s still dark outside. His work is just beginning.

White identifies which of the station’s four pumps has become clogged. He then shuts down the equipment and uses a high-pressure hose to break up the massive accumulation of debris in the 15-foot-deep wet well — a task that comes with an especially unforgettable smell for anyone new to wastewater work.

Next, he places safety locks on the equipment, drains the raw sewage pump, opens it, and removes the blockage. Once the rag ball is dislodged, he reassembles the pump, disinfects the area, brings the station back online, and confirms that the pump is once again running at full capacity.

The whole process can take five to six hours.

You may assume flushing a single disposable wipe isn’t a big deal. But multiplied across thousands of households, those wipes quickly become a major problem.

“Let’s say a pump station is designed to run off of two pumps, and we have two more pumps for redundancy,” White explains. “If we have a clog, it hinders the performance of that pump and causes the other pump to run. Now our backup pump is no longer our backup pump. If something else happens, we’re under capacity, and we could have sewer overflows or wastewater backing up into homes.”

Heavy rain during the wet season can also make the situation even more challenging by increasing the amount of water flowing through the system, leaving less room for error if pumps lose capacity.

A new solution

White and his colleagues recently joined contractors at the Hidden Lake Pump Station to install a new pump designed specifically to combat chronic wipe clogs.

In addition to moving wastewater uphill, the new pump features heavy-duty blades that shred wipes and other debris before they can jam the equipment — basically a powerful blender for wastewater.

The installation is a pilot project, and our Operations and Maintenance team will be closely monitoring its performance. If it proves successful, the remaining three pumps at Hidden Lake could eventually be replaced with the same equipment.

“We have high hopes,” White says with a smile.

Best solution starts at home

Even with an improved system, White says the most effective solution starts with what people choose to flush.

“Just because it fits down the toilet doesn’t mean it should be flushed,” he says.

He encourages everyone to remember the “Four Ps”: pee, poop, puke, and toilet paper.

“You’re lucky if wipes don’t clog your own plumbing. Our concern is everything that happens between your house and Puget Sound,” White says. “If they’re not causing problems at our pump stations, they’ll eventually create issues downstream at our treatment plants. Our job is to clean the water so it’s safe for fish, wildlife, and people. Anything that gets in the way of that puts added strain on our infrastructure and threatens the health of our environment.”

For White, every late-night call is a reminder that protecting clean water is a team effort. While our operators and staff work around the clock to keep wastewater flowing safely, everyone can help by keeping anything other than the “Four Ps” out of the toilet.

Sometimes, protecting Puget Sound starts with what you don’t flush.