Wet wipes under fire for costly pump blockages

Tasman District Council contractors are having to clean up blockages caused by wet wipes on a weekly basis, sometimes costing thousands of dollars at a time.

Downer contract manager Paul Barratt told the council's operations committee this month that they were getting two to three blockages a week.

"A simple fix can be a couple of hundred dollars, a more complex fix where the problem itself goes to the pump can really cause some damage, [it]can be three or four thousand dollars."

Barratt shared some "delightful pictures" with councillors of blocked pump stations that had been installed around Berryfields area, Māpua, and Wakefield.

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"The big thing with those as you can see in the picture ... is the wet wipes," Barratt said.

"Wet wipes, however people try to sell them or package them, they’re not a disposable item, they’re 80% plastic and they don't degrade.

"It's an ongoing problem, not just for us, but for council staff and management and education around that side of thing."

Speaking outside the meeting, Barratt said wet wipes snagged up the impellers and jammed pumps so they couldn't rotate. A blockage could break the pump completely if the motor was trying to turn and the impeller wouldn't budge.

"If it burns it out completely and damages the impeller, that's when repairs can quite easily get up to that $2000 or $3,000," he said.

Wet wipes were a kind of "double-edged sword".

"They don't go through the pump properly, they don't degrade and they and they sort of collect the fat as well."

In addition to wet wipes, sometimes paper towels were found too, which also didn't break down properly. Some people flushed items of clothing, Barratt said, which wasn't an "uncommon practice".

While it was contractors who had the "nasty job" of having to physically deal with the problem, council staff had to contend with following up, letters, and communications around the issue.

Councillor Kit Maling said he wasn't surprised by Barratt's presentation as it was an ongoing issue.

Maling said his understanding was that in Berryfields, the first incident the council paid for, and after that the owners had to pay the bill.

"Are they learning when they get the bill?" he asked. Maling suggested the issue be included in council newsletters to the public.

In a report received by the committee, on February 21 a small overflow that discharged onto Leisure Lane, Ligar Bay, was found to have been caused by a tea towel blocking the pipe.

After "a lot of investigation to locate and clear the blockage", the contractor "had to resort to digging up the pipe", the report said.

The report said an article would be drafted once the full cost of the blockage was known.