Sewage spill stinks up Wilmington neighborhood

Residents in one New Hanover County neighborhood learned putting the wrong materials down your toilet and sink can create big problems for the sewer system on Sunday.

The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority responded to what they are calling an out of the ordinary situation. A sewage overflow, caused by a mass of string, wipes, and grease, blocked up one of the pipes in the sewage system, causing a 5,000-gallon leak near George Anderson drive.

“Some of these may have been inadvertently dumped but some of them obviously look like they come from a household-type situation,” said Brock Ridout of Cape Fear Public Utility Authority. “Things that say on the box that they are flushable doesn’t normally mean that they are flushable. They may go down in the toilet but they don’t break down in the sewer system like other materials do.”

Residents are encouraged to review what can and cannot be put down the drain so incidents like this one can be avoided; this in turn saves time, money and helps keep our environment clean.