What Not to Put in the Sewer

What you put down your drain or flush down your toilet can negatively impact the environment.

Grease

• Never pour grease down the sink drain or toilet! Grease cannot be broken down effectively during the wastewater treatment process. Just like a steady diet of greasy food can clog your arteries, grease flushed down the pipes blocks sewers.
• Grease clings to pipes and builds up over time.
• Cold weather solidifies grease.
• Blocked sewage (sewer backup) can surge up through sinks, floor drains and toilets and make for a very, very messy cleanup.

How to Dispose of Grease Properly

• Pour grease into a container. Freeze it and throw it in the garbage. Household liquid edible food oils can be taken to the Household Hazardous Waste Facility at your local Community Recycling Center.
• Before washing dishes, scrape hardened grease into the garbage.
• Additives claiming to reduce grease may only pass grease further into the pipe.

Other Items NOT to Flush Down the Toilet or Pour Down the Drain

• Sticks
• Rags
• Paper towels
• Sanitary napkins
• Diapers
• Household Hazardous Waste

And remember:
All storm sewers lead to your water.

• The storm sewer system drains into rivers, streams and lakes, and can seep into the ground.
• What goes in the storm sewer can contaminate the sources of our drinking water.