By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
November and December are a busy time for families with the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year holidays. It can also mean a busy time for city maintenance staff if items are improperly disposed of in the sewer system. Great Bend Public Works Director Jason Cauley reminds residents not to flush disposable wipes, and to put oil and grease in a separate container and throw it in the trash.
"Don't try to dump it down the drain," he said. "As soon as you do, it's going to go into your drain, it's going to cool off, solidify, and cause you an issue. if it happens to make it past your drain out into our system, if everybody does it, it will start collecting in our system and we'll start having backups and things of that nature."
Several brands of wipes are advertised as flushable but they are too thick to make it through the entire sewer system.
"That issue is a lot to do with the line and also with the lift station," Cauley said. "Our lift station has pumps, and those pumps are what take the waste and push it down towards the plant. Those wipes collect in the lift station and cause all kinds of problems."
Cauley said the city does perform routine maintenance on the sewer system but proactive residents can save themselves and the city time and money.