Water industry body Water New Zealand says consumers should be cautious of believing the claims of manufacturers who say their products are "flushable", citing a new international study.
In a statement today, Water New Zealand Technical Manager Noel Roberts said a recent Canadian study - Defining Flushability for Sewer Use - tested a range of products which claimed to be safe to dispose of in toilets.
None of the products fully disintegrated and fewer than 10 per cent of the products partially disintegrated.
Mr Roberts said he is confident that similar tests of products in the New Zealand market would yield similar results.
"The production of cleaning and personal hygiene products, such as wet wipes, has grown to a multi-billion dollar global business and is set to continue growing," he said.
"We also know that there are issues around labelling so many people are not aware of the damage that the flushing of wipes and other non-flushable products do to our environment and sewer pipes.
"As this latest international test has shown, only pee, poo and toilet paper pass the flushable test."
Mr Roberts said Water New Zealand has found the numnber of sewer overflow events in New Zealand caused by inappropriate flushing of wipes has increased five-fold since 2015-16.
"This is costing New Zealand ratepayers at least $16 million a year in clearing blockages as well as contaminating the environment through sewage overflows," Mr Roberts said.
"That's why, at Water New Zealand, we are working with our Australian counterparts to come up with joint Australian-New Zealand standards similar to the International Water Services Flushability Group (IWSFG) specification that the recent Canadian test was based on.
"Once this is completed, we will be able to test products in New Zealand to ensure correct product labelling."
"In the meantime, it's important that consumers throw these products in bins and not down toilets in order to avoid expensive and unnecessary costs to ratepayers and the environment."
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