By Robert Haller, Jennifer Leno, and Barry Orr
“To flush, or not to flush, that is the question.” Now, thanks to the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), Canadian Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) and the Municipal Enforcement Sewer Use Group of Canada (MESUG), the definition of “flushable’ is going to be standardized.
The CWWA has recently entered into a contract with the CSA to develop this critical, much-needed standard and needs to raise at least $250,000 to complete this national project. The CSA fee itself is estimated to be over $200,000. Then, there will be the expenses of the technical experts, who will be required to attend at least one multi-day meeting as part of the standard development process. Any remaining funds collected will be used to promote the new standard and support its implementation nationally.
We are therefore asking Canadian wastewater utilities, and private sector partners to contribute to a common fund, led by CWWA, to finance the development, adoption and implementation of this Canadian standard for “flushability.” Contributing to this fund is a preventative investment to reduce the impact and cost of dealing with wipes, which is estimated to be over $250 million annually in Canada.
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The negative impacts of inappropriately labelled items on wastewater collection systems include:
- exacerbating fats/oils/grease problems;
- promoting toilets as garbage cans;
- causing costly clogs and damage to equipment;
- requiring additional staffing resources;
- threatening impacts to the local environment.
It is clear that a lot of people are confused as to what is flushable. Many municipalities have been auditing the screenings at wastewater treatment plants for years. They find items like wipes, tampon applicators, floss, menstrual hygiene products, condoms, paper towels, gloves, razor blade heads, Lego blocks, goldfish, toys, hair, vape cartridges, stickers, toothbrushes and more.
To create “smart, green cities” new models are needed to account for the increase in solid materials entering systems because of changing flushing behaviours. Items such as personal wipes are being flushed, disrupting flow patterns and causing higher depositional rates with lower mean settling velocities.
Municipalities must manage the influx of non-flushable materials into sewers before a critical system failure occurs. Across Canada, reports of higher and higher screenings weights are being collected. It has been reported that municipalities are seeing non-flushable screenings averaging 3–5 kilograms per person. That is a lot of items that are making it into the toilet instead of a garbage can. How can that be? The primary cause is confusion. Therefore, the standard will address new “Do Not Flush” and “Flushable” logos from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for all products within a bathroom setting, or with a high potential of being flushed down a toilet.
Understanding moisture retention is important, because non-flushable material will get caught by wastewater equipment and ultimately be collected for disposal at landfills where it will contribute to leachate volumes. The moisture test data indicates that cellulose-based fibres retain extra moisture within a flushed product.
If the product is dispersible, it will break into small pieces and become part of the biosolids. If it is not dispersible, it will become part of the screening material and end up within a solid waste collection facility. Due to health, safety and nuisance concerns, non-flushable items must be landfilled as controlled waste.
We used to say that nothing was flushable except the 3 Ps (pee, poop, paper). However, a number of manufacturers have developed innovative products that actually break down like toilet paper. These have been determined by global wastewater experts to be safe to flush into municipal systems. So, our task now is to make an officially recognized standard that clarifies what can and what cannot be flushed.
WHAT IS THE VALUE OF A FLUSHABILITY STANDARD?
Such a standard can be immediately used by any municipality as the basis for an effective sewer-use bylaw. They will be able to cite a nationally recognized standard of what customers can flush, or even what retailers can sell within a community.
Then, our hope is to take this to provincial and federal governments, so that they will develop enforceable legislation and regulations. These would be similar to regulations concerning other consumer product claims and labelling.
This has taken over 16 years of international collaboration, but we are now very close to having an effective standard for Canada.
Please consider how your municipal utility can contribute to this project as an investment to reduce the impact of non-flushable products in our communities. Financial contributions can be made directly to the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association’s flushability fund.
Robert Haller is the Executive Director of the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA). Jennifer Leno is with the Municipal Enforcement Sewer Use Group of Canada (MESUG) and is the CWWA Flushable Committee Chairperson. Barry Orr is a MESUG spokesperson. For more information, email: rhaller@cwwa.ca.
This article appeared in the October 2026 edition of Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine.
