Flushable Wipes May be Anything But

Flushable wipes have allegedly been causing plumbing problems across the country.

Flushable wipes are products designed to be more hygienic or cleaner than toilet paper. Many of the labels make claims like “sewer safe” or “breaks down after flushing.” However, various consumers have allegedly discovered that these products don’t break down and can cause plumbing headaches.

According to the New York Post, “there’s no flushing this problem.”

The Post makes reference to consumers who are beginning to file class action lawsuits against the makers of these products, alleging that the flushable wipes do not break down, causing costly plumbing repairs and damage to septic systems.

Additionally, there has been damage to the municipal sewage system of New York City, allegedly caused by flushable wipes that stuck together, along with a helping of sewer grease, to form a mass city workers nicknamed “fatberg.”

The fatberg weighed more than 15 tons and had a similar mass to a bus. The mass of grease and “flushable” wipes crippled New York City’s sewer systems in the summer of 2013.

The nonprofit group Consumer Reports recently published a video detailing their own tests of flushable wipes. The video, promises to “get to the bottom of claims” that the flushable wipes break down when flushed.

The wipe in question failed to break down after ten minutes of stirring in water, a test where regular toilet paper disintegrated almost instantly. After ten minutes of trying, Consumer Reports’s testers gave up and tried to use a kitchen mixer to break down the flushable wipes. In the video, the wipe failed to break down under these conditions.

As stated by the Post, consumers are beginning to launch class action lawsuits against the makers of flushable wipes like Wet Ones, Charmin Freshmates, and Cottonelle Flushable Wipes. A class action lawsuit investigation is also considering store-brands, like CVS flushable wipes and Walgreens flushable wipes.

Such a flushable wipes class action lawsuit could allege that when the product was used as advertised, the product caused damage to consumers’ plumbing systems, breaching both advertising and product liability laws. Such a flushable wipe lawsuit could seek to recoup the costs of repairs from alleged flushable wipe clogs.

These flushable wipes lawsuits will most likely take the form of class action lawsuits, group lawsuits where a number of individuals file a flushable wipes lawsuit against a single defendant that has allegedly harmed them all in similar ways, in this case causing costly plumbing problems.

Join a Free Flushable Wipes Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you purchased flushable adult wipes, baby wipes or toddler wipes, you may be able to join a free class action lawsuit investigation.

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