A Toilet is not a Rubbish Bin
What goes in your toilet, and down your sinks and drains, can affect the environment. Even though sewage is treated, some household substances and items that get into sewage can still end up in Port Phillip Bay and the ocean.
What can you do?
You can help protect the environment by keeping household waste items - the threes - out of the sewerage system.
- Never wash cotton buds, cigarette butts, pharmaceuticals, condoms or sanitary products down toilets, sinks or drains. Non-biodegradable products cannot be treated by the bacteria that break down the rest of the waste.
- Never let non-biodegradable items such as plastic bags, oils, chemicals, paints and pesticides get into toilets, sinks or drains. They make the treatment process more difficult and more costly.
See below for tips and further detailed advice on what you can do to help protect the environment and our sewerage system.
Bathroom tips
Hygiene items such as nappies, tampons and cotton buds are not treatable and are difficult to remove from sewage, particularly items made with plastic.
- Never flush nappies, sanitary napkins, tampons, incontinence pads, surgical bandages, cotton buds or condoms down the toilet. These items commonly cause sewer blockages and can clog up the system at the treatment plants.
- Never flush razor blades, syringes or other non-biodegradable pharmaceutical products down the toilet. Always dispose of these products safely in the bin.
- Take old and unwanted pharmaceutical products such as medicines to your chemist so they can be disposed of safely.
Put a bin in your bathroom and next to separate toilets. All of the above items should be disposed of properly (avoiding an expensive blockage).
Fats, oils and food scraps
Avoid putting cooking oil, fats and food scraps down the sink. Fats tend to solidify on cooling, which can lead to fat build-up in the pipes under your home and ultimately cause blockages that are costly to fix. Fat build-ups are a common cause of sewer blockages.
- Instead of pouring fats and oils down the sink, wipe your pots and pans with a paper towel and put the paper towel in the bin. Alternatively, let the oil or fat cool and then spread it evenly over your compost heap.
- Vegetable peelings and other scraps belong in the bin or on the compost. Collect scraps in a container near the sink and dispose of them at the end of the day.
- Buy a sink strainer and save yourself the cost of unblocking your sewer. Empty the strainer into the bin, or add the food scraps to your compost heap.
- Before rinsing your fruit and vegetables in the sink, make sure you remove the brand labels and dispose of them in the rubbish bin. These small, sticky labels are not biodegradable and cannot be treated by the bacteria that break down sewage.
Detergents
The average household uses three times more detergent than manufacturers recommend for washing dishes and clothes. Many detergents contain phosphate, which can be very harmful to the environment.
- Reduce the amount of detergent you use. You will help reduce any adverse effects detergents may have on the environment and you will save money on your grocery bill.
- Choose detergents that are phosphate-free.
Paints, pesticides and other hazardous chemicals
Hazardous chemicals used for home and garden maintenance, such as paints and pesticides, can corrode sewage pipes and damage the environment. These chemicals also pose a health threat to staff who maintain our sewers.
- Try to use water-based paints whenever possible. They are much less harmful to the environment. After using water-based paints, use scrap material to get out any excess paint on brushes and rollers, or rinse them over the garden.
- If you are using oil-based paints, clean brushes and rollers in turpentine and allow the paint/turps mixture to evaporate. Put the remaining sludge in the bin.
- If you need to dispose of paints or other chemicals, contact Sustainability Victoria (Freecall 1800 353 233 or visit their website at www.sustainability.vic.gov.au) for the dates of free household chemical collections in your area.
- Never pour used motor oil down the sink. Contact your local council or Sustainability Victoria to find to dispose of used motor oil.
What is sewage?
Sewage includes everything that goes in your toilet. It also includes everything that goes into sinks and drains in your bathroom, kitchen and laundry. Most sewage in Melbourne flows to one of Melbourne Water's two large treatment plants. The sewage is treated to environmental standards set by EPA Victoria, to make the effluent safe for release back into the environment. A small amount of Melbourne's sewage is treated at local treatment plants owned by Melbourne's three retail water companies.