Massive collection of baby wipes clog pipes at Lowcountry wastewater treatment plant

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - Massive collections of baby wipes clogged up some pumps at a Lowcountry wastewater facility.

Officials with Charleston Water say it happened Thursday afternoon at the Plum Island Wastewater Treatment Plant where baby wipes clogged a series of large pumps.

According to Charleston Water, divers were sent 80 to 90 feet deep into the raw sewage to search in complete darkness with their hands to find and identity the then-unknown obstruction.

“As we expected, they came up with these large masses of wipes in their first two loads, with more to come,” CW officials said.

Crews worked 24/7 to get those collections of baby wipes out of the system.

In addition, crews also found a baseball and a large piece of metal.

“Don’t flush stuff like this. Joking of course, but you should only flush #1, #2, and toilet paper,” CWS officials said.

Then we sent divers 80-90 feet deep into the wet well/raw sewage to search in complete darkness with their hands to find and identify the obstruction. As we expected, they came up with these large masses of wipes in their first two loads, with more to come. pic.twitter.com/XcmZXf9ECF
— Charleston Water (@ChasWaterSystem) October 15, 2018