Baby wipes are clogging the city sewer system. City workers check the sewer lift station pumps nearly everyday and use a vacuum to clean pipes or use a knife to cut the wipes into pieces to pull out.
Two or more people spend up to four hours a day removing the debris - a nasty job especially when the wipes absorb grease poured down drains by Durango residents.
It's already a dirty job, but the amount of cleansing wipes clogging up Durango's sewer system has the department begging for relief.
Premoistened wipes are less dissolvable than regular toilet paper, city workers are spending more time and money cleaning the city's sewer system and fixing equipment. With the situation reaching epic proportions, Utilities Director Steve Salka is pleading for residents to stop the flushing.
The wipes jam sewer pumps and also binds with grease people pour down sinks.
Durango city workers recently removed about 300 pounds of grease and wipes from the sewer service line connecting the Durango Welcome Center on Main Avenue.
