WSAA is pleased to announce that Standards Australia have formally approved the development of a national standard that defines the criteria for material suitable for toilet flushing, along with appropriate labelling requirements.
‘The development of an Australian Standard would provide manufacturers with clear specifications to design products that are compatible with the sewerage network’, said Mr Adam Lovell, Executive Director WSAA.
‘WSAA and its members will meet this week to start developing the standard. It is anticipated that the Standard will take between 12 to 24 months to complete’, said Mr Lovell.
Recently the Australian Competition and Consumer Council announced that the Federal Court of Australia ordered Pental Limited and Pental Products Pty Ltd to pay penalties of $700,000 for making false and misleading representations about its White King ‘flushable’ toilet and bathroom cleaning wipes.
‘This is an international issue for water utilities around the globe and while there is no standard at present, customers need clearer labelling to ensure these products do not contribute to blockages in urban wastewater systems’, said Mr Lovell.
Mr Lovell said WSAA and the urban water industry in Australia and New Zealand have been concerned for some time about the contribution of wet wipes products to pipe blockages and in turn disruption to customer services, extra costs and impacts on the environment. The development of an Australian Standard is a positive step in addressing these issues.
‘Until there is a Standard, WSAA and its members continue to call for clearer labelling and advise customers that only the 3Ps – Pee, Poo and toilet Paper – should be flushed’, said Mr Lovell.
Separately, the International Water Sector Flushability Group (IWFSG) will publish their flushability specification on the 1 June 2018, outlining the preferred requirements for flushability as developed by water industry representatives from the US, Canada, Japan, Spain, Israel, New Zealand and Australia. The documents will be in the form of three publically available specifications or PAS documents, and will be available at iwsfg.org.
21 May 2018
