More people are working from home and that’s causing some real problems for some sewer systems.
Officials are asking people to stop flushing those supposedly "flushable" personal wipes down the toilet.
They say flushable. But they don’t biodegrade. They block up sewer pipes and jam up sewer pumps. Candice Miller is the Public Works Commissioner for Macomb County. She estimates the amount of personal wipes being flushed down the drain has quadrupled and that’s could cause problems at home.
"In a pandemic, the worst thing that could happen is they have a sewer backup, which could happen if these things continue like this," said Miller.
Miller says at one pumping station workers cleaned out 70 tons of wipes two years ago. Recently they dug out 270 tons of wipes at the same place. She says throw them in the trash instead of flushing them.