Fitzroy River Water maintains the sewerage system throughout the Rockhampton Region. The sewerage system is connected to each property to transport sewage and domestic wastewater from each home to the sewage treatment plants via private house drains, sewer mains and pumping stations.
Flushing the wrong items down toilets can leave home owners with an expensive plumbing bill to unblock pipes and can lead to malfunctions at the sewage treatment plant. Malfunctions add extra costs and hinder the effective and efficient treatment of sewage provided by Fitzroy River Water. Effective and efficient treatment is required to protect the community and the environment.
The sewer network
As sewage and domestic wastewater enters the sewage treatment plant, it firstly travels through an automated inlet screen which is designed to remove paper and other soft solids. The step screen is not designed to cope with hard foreign objects. In the past, Fitzroy River Water has incurred extensive repair bills to some of these inlet screens due to damage caused by foreign objects. Odd and unacceptable objects that have made their way to the inlet screen include timber, bricks, cameras, tape measures, a washing machine motor, and bed sheets.
It is important you take care when handling anything near the toilet as if it is dropped in the toilet it may not be retrievable. This could lead to potential issues both at your house and in parts of the sewerage network.
When cleaning your toilet or bathroom, you should use only the recommended amount of detergent and cleaners to reduce the amount of chemicals. Chemicals (such as phosphorus) that enter the sewerage system require removal at the sewage treatment plant.
It is also important to try to limit flushing and disposing of non-biodegradable toilet paper. Non-biodegradable products have to be separated at the sewage treatment plant by Fitzroy River Water and transported to the landfill. The disposal of this solid waste to landfill is becoming very expensive as available landfill space is becoming limiting.
These items will spoil it at the toilet:
- Cigarette butts
- Sanitary items (such as incontinence pads)
- Tissues
- Hair
- Condoms
- Insects
- Small animals
- Cotton swabs
- Nappies
- Floss
- Drugs and medicines
- Food
- Paint and building waste
- Cleaning wipes
- First aid items
- Poisons
- Razors
- Dryer sheets
- Dirt
- Cat litter
- Chewing gum
- Cosmetics
These items won't spoil it at the toilet:
- Human waste
- Biodegradable toilet or tissue paper
What to do if you spoil it at the toilet
If you believe your toilet has been blocked with a foreign item, you should call a plumber. A plumber will be able to determine where the blockage lies and in some instances may have to remove the toilet from the wall to unblock pipes.
If the blockage lies outside your property boundary please report this to Fitzroy River Water on 07 4932 9000 or 1300 22 55 77.