NOTICE TO TENANTS
Dear Tenant,
We are writing to inform you about an ongoing issue within your building (and NYC) and to seek your assistance in helping to address it.
The issue relates to the use of so called “flushable wipes”. You may have heard or read about the problem that these products are causing the NYC sewer system (as well as systems across the world). These wipes and other products like dental floss, feminine hygiene, condoms and paper towels are often casually flushed down the toilet and collect into so called “fatbergs” that clog up sewers and treatment plants costing cities billions of dollar. In short “wipes” are NOT flushable, even if they are labeled as such.
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/fatberg-nyc-dep-baby-wipes-grease-flushed-down-toilet-sewers/
https://nypost.com/2019/04/22/nightmarish-fatbergs-are-clogging-new-yorks-sewers/
However, these “fatbergs” cause issues before they even enter the sewer including here in your building and unfortunately you or your neighbors have already suffered because of their use. A building plumbing system cannot handle disposal of wipes, feminine hygiene products, paper towels or similar products. Just because you see it, “go down” does not mean that all is ok. Over the last year or so, many apartments, and the building itself have had large backups because tenants are improperly flushing these products. You may have flushed these products and have seen no immediate negative impact, but you are just lucky. Once these products enter the plumbing they can clog anywhere ‘down the line’, which results in backups in all sorts of locations, including toilets, tubs, sinks. In the worst cases, sewer water has even backed up into tenants’ apartments. Next time it might be yours
Most common is that these products cause “fatberg” clogs in the basement, at the sewer, resulting in basement flooding at even the slightest rain. Again, tenants may feel as though this does not personally impact them and therefore continue to flush these products. However, these basement floods cause elevator malfunctions, bring bugs and roaches, smells and divert limited resources to cleanup (instead of cleaning the rest of building). Therefore, everyone has an interest in preventing this problem. Fortunately, it is an easy problem to solve. All tenants have to do to prevent these issues is DO NOT FLUSH WIPES. The only thing that should ever be flushed are referred to as the Four P’s. The four P’s are: Poop, pee, puke, and toilet paper. That’s it, nothing else should ever be flushed down the toilet.
In order to assist you in this effort below is a link to help explain the situation further as well as a flyer attached to help illustrate proper disposal actions.
Again, while you may not have realized this was a major situation, it is and you have already been impacted and if it is not addressed will be (maybe even worse) in the future. So lets please ALL do our part.https://www1.nyc.gov/site/dep/whats-new/trash-it-dont-flush-it.page