1 of 36

OCTOBER 2023

2 of 36

WATER: OUR MOST PRECIOUS RESOURCE�

70%

Of planet Earth is covered with water

1%

Is available freshwater

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

*Slide uses animation to reveal the answers

Main Message: Water is a precious resource!

We only have one planet Earth. Everything that happens on it is interconnected. Everything circulates, connects, and transforms as a part of a cycle where each element is related to what happened and what will happen, starting from a drop of water. The water we have today is the same that dinosaurs drank and has traveled over and over through the layers of the Earth. This is what we call “the water cycle”. (1)

Nothing that goes down the drain ever goes away. Old medications flushed down the toilet and chemical fertilizers washed into the storm drain are simply moving somewhere else, usually causing pollution or, in the case of items containing bleach, eroding pipes and killing countless organisms in the water. At school, are you careful about paints or turpentine in art class or chemicals in chemistry, or are they just going down the drain? (2)

We need to take care of our water! Being careful about what you flush can help protect rivers and streams

So why should we care about water quality? Water relates to every possible issue of the quality and sustainability of life. We need clean water for drinking, food preparation, and washing. Water affects human health, the health of ecosystems, and food production; without fresh, clean water, humans suffer from disease and poor nutrition. Water is even important for recreation—fishing, water sports, or simply diving into a lake. Water truly is integral to all parts of our life. But when humans (that’s us) use water wastefully, we deprive natural systems of water: rivers dry up, lakes are polluted, animals and plants die. Our quality of life is diminished. (2)

Engagement Question: what do we use water for?

Cooking, washing, drinking, manufacturing,

Schools, businesses can’t stay open without water.

Great Book of Water
Down the drain

3 of 36

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU

FLUSH?

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

Featuring none other than me!

How does poop get from your toilet to the waste water treatment plant? Have you ever thought about it? Its important to know – just because things you flush make it out of the pipes in your house doen't mean it won't be a problem in the sewer collection system – this video will help explain what a sewer system is.

Wastewater is what remains from basic human activities, such as personal hygiene, cooking, and toilets. In general, wastewater characterizes for having mainly organic contamination, such as food waste, soap, feces, household detergents, among other substances. However, sometimes it may be mixed with liquid waste from industries. If wastewaters are dumped in rivers, lakes, and seas, they may cause grave problems in nature. The contamination they carry takes all the oxygen in the water, which leaves the fish and algae out of breathing air, causing their death. Moreover, the pathogens, bacteria and viruses that are present in raw sewage can contaminate ecological systems, and cause humans and other animals to get sick.

In each house, apartment, mall, restaurant, casino, etcetera, dirty water is eliminated through the WC/Toilet, sink, or dishwater. In most cities, a network of underground pipes carries this water to a treatment plant. Depending on the city size, this network may travel several kilometers/Miles from the neighborhoods to the wastewater treatment plan

How Do Sewer Systems Work? – YouTube 4:14

More background:

How Sewers Work (feat. Fake Poop) - YouTube – watch this to learn more about the systems

Where it goes when you flush - YouTube

Sewer Lift Station Projects - TUD (tudwater.com)

4 of 36

HOW WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS!

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

5 of 36

5

The toilet won’t flush

HELP!

Did you flush �something other�than the 4 P’s?

Maybe…?

What are the 4 P’s?

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

6 of 36

6

WHAT ARE

THE 4 P’S?

…and

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

7 of 36

CAREFUL WHAT YOU FLUSH.

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

8 of 36

FATBURGS�

Thames Water in London found a FATBURG that was as long as a Boeing 747! That’s 262 feet long!

CLOGGING CULPRITS

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

9 of 36

WET WIPES�

75% of pipe blockages are made by wipes!

CLOGGING CULPRITS

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

10 of 36

CRIMES AGAINST YOUR PIPES: �Biggest Offenders

FATS, OILS & GREASE

Wanted for clogging pipes

MEDICATIONS

Wanted for polluting waterways

WIPES

Wanted for clogging pipes

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

11 of 36

UNFLUSHABLES CLOGGING PIPES�

Mr. Poo

6,549 likes

Mr. Poo Another clog! How am I going to get to the wastewater treatment plant now? @officialthameswater

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

Here’s some examples of more fatbergs! Gross!

Imagine what water professionals have to go through to clean these up? Charleston Water had to send divers 80-90 feet deep into the wet well/raw sewage to search in complete darkness with their hands to find and identify an obstruction. As expected, they came up with large masses of wipes.

Images: Thames Water (left, right)

NYC Water (center)

mages;

'Monster' fatberg to go on display in museum - BBC News – museum of London

Disgusting 10-ton fatberg full of grease and wet wipes cleared from sewer | The US Sun (the-sun.com)

PHOTOS: 'Fatberg' the Size of a Boeing 747 Under Shepherd’s Bush Road (businessinsider.com)

Anatomy of a fatberg: can our sewers cope? | Modus | RICS

B.C. municipalities worry about 'fatbergs' clogging sewers as people flush disinfectant wipes during pandemic | CBC News

12 of 36

12

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

Overflows into ponds, rivers and lakes
Wastes time and money
Damages water infrastructure
Pollutes waterways and harms wildlife

New York City spends $18,000,000 a year to fight fatburgs!

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

When other things get flushed like dental floss, wipes, fats/greases, they can clump together and plug the pipelines that carry wastewater to the treatment plant.

When pipeline plug/clog – they can overflow. Like in the picture. Where do you think all this wastewater ends up? (in our lakes, streams and rivers. Sometimes in people’s basements)

Can you think of other stuff in wastewater that shouldn’t end up on your street or in your rivers (stuff that doesn’t clog but shouldn’t be there?) (chemicals, poop, medicines etc)

50% of sewer overflows are due to blocked pipes. (other overflows may be caused by pipeline breakages, flooding/rain events etc)

New York City spends about $18M a year to fight fatbergs. [Google your region for fatberg facts]

This makes for an expensive and stinky mess! Also, flushing things like medication or chemicals down the toilet may not be removed by the treatment process.

Statistics:

Sydney Water - 75% of wastewater blockages are cause by wipes

50% of SSO cause by pipeline blockages

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), states that it costs over $400 million dollars to fix and clean up wastewater treatment equipment when we flush non-flushable wipes in the toilet. If our sewage systems get clogged or leak, it can pollute our groundwater and even flow back into our homes affecting the safety of our community. When we flush smart, we save our water, time, health, and money. [4]

London spends $19 to $63 million (£15 and £50 million) annually removing fatbergs from city sewers.

New York Times estimated that clearing ‘grease backups’ cost the city $4.65 million in 2013-14. In the span of five years, New York City spent $18 million fighting fatbergs.

Detroit recently cleared a single 100-foot long fatberg found in an 11-foot diameter pipe at a cost of $100,000.

IMAGE: Creating a Sanitary Sewer Overflow Response Plan - WaterColor Management

13 of 36

WHERE SHOULD IT GO?

☑ Wipes

☑ Grease, Fats, Oils

☑ Tampons & pads

☑ Medicine

☑ Q-tips

☑ Dental floss

☑ Chemicals

☑ Poop

☑ Pee

☑ Toilet Paper

☑ Puke

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

Truly flushable items are ones that: break into small pieces quickly, are not buoyant, and only contain materials which will readily degrade in a range of natural environments (like paper, not plastic).

Wipes – go in the trash. Makeup removers, baby wipes, disinfectant wipes. Some are marked flushable, but all should go in the trash as there aren’t yet standards for the “Flushable” mark.

Greases/oils/Fats – in the trash! Wipe out your pots/pans with a paper towel before washing

Make-up and make up removers – in the trash.

Q-tips – looks small and easy to flush but they don’t break down and can cause a clog monsters

Tampons/Pads – feminine hygiene. Need to go in the trash. You can get environmentally friendly disposal bags to help make this task easier.

Dental floss – also seems easy to flush, but don’t. Its definite clog monster material.

14 of 36

Have you thought about where your poop goes before?
Does anyone here know if their house has a septic tank?
Has anyone visited a wastewater treatment plant?
Do people think this is important? Why or why not?

LET’S DISCUSS

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

15 of 36

THANK YOU

Thank you for helping to defend our pipes & protect our waterways!

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

16 of 36

PUZZLE ACTIVITY

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

17 of 36

Online Water Cycle Puzzle

https://www.tinytap.com/activities/g59j6/play/the-flushing-challenge-create-a-water-cycle-diagram

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

18 of 36

Jigsaw Puzzle

19 of 36

Grid Puzzle

20 of 36

POSTER ACTIVITY

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

21 of 36

Inspire Change with a Poster!

Think about your message:

What are you asking of people? Why?

Who is your target audience?

How will you persuade people to take action?

How will you draw people’s attention?

Make the poster!

Use a digital platform like Google Slides, Adobe, Canva, PowerPoint etc.

OR

Make a paper poster

Bonus Points: Take time to share your creation with the group.

Where will you post your poster?

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

22 of 36

Poster

You can utilize all kind of available material for creating the puzzle:

Colors, pens, pencils for drawing
Magazines with suitable pictures that can be cut out
Stickers
Pictures
Emojis

See example of items that can be printed/used for the puzzle in the next slides

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

23 of 36

Poster: material to print in advance

24 of 36

Poster: material to print in advance

25 of 36

QUIZ ACIVITY

Online Version

Read Aloud Version

Slide Version

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

26 of 36

Kahoot Quiz: (time 15 min)

Presenter Instructions :

Play as a full group, teams or as individuals
Scan the QR code or use this link: https://kahoot.it/challenge/001598738
Game PIN: 001598738
Please note there are single answer questions, multi-answer questions

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

27 of 36

What can you flush down the toilet?

Plastic
Facial masks
Toilet Paper
Cotton balls

Its okay to flush wipes down the toilet!

True
False

What causes toilet clogs?

Pooping too little
Peeing too much
Using too much toilet paper?
Flushing at night

Flushing medication down the toilet is safe?

True
False

Quiz Questions without Kahoot - plan for ~20 seconds for each question:

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

28 of 36

What items can you flush away in the toilet?

Tissues for your nose
The 4 P’s – Pee, Poo, (toilet) Paper and Puke
Facial cleansing wipes
Nappies/Diapers

What should you do with cooking oil?

Dump outside
Store in a Container and dispose in Trash
Flush it
Pour it down the sink

What items should go down the toilet?

Quiz Questions – continued:

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

29 of 36

When you flush, all wastewater goes to Wastewater Treatment Plant?

True
False

What things should not be flushed?

We drink toilet water?

True
False

Quiz Questions – continued:

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

30 of 36

POP QUIZ

Wipes

Poop

Coffee grounds

Tampons & pads

Medicine

Q-tips

Dental floss

Toilet paper

Pee

TOILET

TRASH & RECYCLING

☑ Wipes

☑ Coffee grounds

☑ Tampons & pads

☑ Medicine

☑ Q-tips

☑ Dental floss

☑ F.O.G.

☑ Cleaning chemicals

☑ Poop

☑ Toilet paper

☑ Pee

☑ Puke

CHOICES

Fats, oils, grease

Cleaning chemicals

Puke

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

*Slide uses animation to reveal the answers

Truly flushable items are ones that: break into small pieces quickly, are not buoyant, and only contain materials which will readily degrade in a range of natural environments (like paper, not plastic).

Wipes – go in the trash. Makeup removers, baby wipes, disinfectant wipes. Some are marked flushable, but all should go in the trash as there aren’t yet standards for the “Flushable” mark.

Greases/oils/Fats – in the trash! Wipe out your pots/pans with a paper towel before washing

Make-up and make up removers – in the trash.

Q-tips – looks small and easy to flush but they don’t break down and can cause a clog monsters

Tampons/Pads – feminine hygiene. Need to go in the trash. You can get environmentally friendly disposal bags to help make this task easier.

Dental floss – also seems easy to flush, but don’t. Its definite clog monster material.

31 of 36

FLUSHING FACT OR MYTH

Anything that can make it down the toilet is okay to flush.

Only pee, poop, toilet paper, and puke are safe to flush.

MYTH

FACT

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

32 of 36

Wipes labeled as flushable can go into the toilet.

Even wipes labeled as “flushable” should go into the trash

FLUSHING FACT OR MYTH

MYTH

FACT

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

33 of 36

THE PLEDGE

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

34 of 36

I, YOUR NAME, Pledge to take the Flushing Challenge,

I will help protect my community’s water ways and pipelines from Clog Monsters and Fatburgs.

I pledge to only flush Poop, Pee, Puke and (Toilet) Paper, and to tell my friends and family to do the same!

I will help prevent pipeline blockages and sewer overflows and keep the earth’s water safer and cleaner.

FLUSHING CHALLENGE

35 of 36

35

x

To Flush only Poop, Pee,

(toilet) Paper & Puke

To be a good Water citizen &

To tell your friends & family

FLUSHING

CHALLENGE

The Flushing Challenge Pledge was made by:

+

36 of 36

x

To Flush only Poop, Pee,

(toilet) Paper & Puke

To be a good Water citizen &

To tell your friends & family

FLUSHING

CHALLENGE

The Flushing Challenge Pledge was made by:

+