Are We Ready for A New Toilet? A dispatch from the front lines of the American bathroom

摘要

In the summer of 2014 sewage workers in London toiled for four days to disgorge a "fatberg," a congealed lump of food grease and wet wipes the length of a Boeing 747 that had become lodged in the city's pipes. It was only the most revolting sign of a problem currently affecting many municipalities: debris caught in machinery at wastewater-treatment plants. Bathroom moist wipes, the squeegee to toilet paper's buffing cloth, make up about a third of this debris. About 30 percent of wipes are marketed as "flushable," but clearly that does not mean degradable. New York City officials have reported spending more than $18 million during the past five years replacing and repairing sewer-plant pumps, gears, valves, and screens damaged as a result of wipes.