From baby wipes to personal wipes to even disinfecting wipes, cleaning has never been easier. But those wipes are creating a big and costly problem. The problem with flushable wipes is they're not really safe to flush. They will make it down your drain but then they end up causing problems downstream in the sewer system. Alisa Lawson knows first-hand the trouble the wipes can cause. Lawson had some coupons for them and started using so-called flushable wipes. She used them for several months. Then she had a sewer line back up. "It was really gross and you know, obviously I had to get the plumber out there right away because it was a serious problem," said Lawson. Alisa did not know what the culprit could be behind the backup. "I was actually surprised when he (the plumber) said the flushable wipes were part of the problem but obviously since then I've never used them (again)," said Lawson. Her story is one they hear a lot at A-Abel. The company receives several calls a day for backed up pipes. Nick Hirth is the plumbing service manager. He says those flushable wipes will usually pass right through newer homes with PVC pipes but they can be big trouble for older homes with clay or cast iron pipes. "That pipe as it gets older and deteriorates tends to act like Velcro and wipes are probably the worst thing you can probably flush down there because they get hung up in the roots or the separations in the pipe and just dam everything up," said Nick Hirth the plumbing manager at A-Abel. "A lot of times homeowners may not realize that their insurance will not cover sewer backups into their home and typically homeowners can be responsible for those damages to repair them. So it's really important not to flush these things down the line because they can impact you and your neighbors," said Brianna Wooten the Communications Director for the Montgomery Co. Environmental Services Dept. Typically if your toilet starts to gurgle or bubble or you notice doing a load of wash, something, a tub starts to gurgle, chances are the drain is about to plug up. Thats probably the best time to call a plumber, before you have a flood or some damage from a backed up drain, said Hurth. The wipes are creating a much bigger problem for sewer systems around the county. "They're not biodegradable and they end up in our sewer system and cause havoc with our pump stations, our sewer lines and our water treatment plants," said Wooten. You might be thinking to yourself, 'I don't flush these so I don't have anything to worry about.' Just the cost of cleaning out the pumps and lift stations can be 0,000 a year. Add on another 25,000 for sewer backups and that's more than 00,000. Its not just the wipes people are flushing. Sanitation workers find rags, sheets and diapers. Plus many people still dump oil and grease down the drain. Its warm when it goes down the drain but then it gets colder and solidifies and then sticks to the side of a sewer line just like an artery getting clogged in your body. It gets smaller and smaller and can also lead to sewer blockages and problems further down the sewer system, said Wooten. "When customers flush things or dispose of things down the drain that they shouldn't it ultimately impacts their rates because it costs us more money to remove those things from our system," said Wooten. Everything you flush that doesn't break down, like those wipes ultimately will end up in a truck where they will be taken to the landfill. Wooten says the wipes account for about 60-70% of the material taken to the landfill. Its a lot easier to throw it in the trash and get rid of a Kroger sack or something like that than it is to flush it down the toilet and then pose a potential problem of a backed up drain or a backed up toilet, said Hirth. So do yourself and the environmental services department a favor and just throw them away. Several cities and individuals have filed lawsuits against several makers of the flushable wipes.

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