Published: Oct 25, 2019 | 14:49 PM

Businesses and You Can Be Sewer Savvy

Everything flushed or sent down the drain in IRWD’s service area flows into a 1,100-mile network of sewer pipelines that wind their way to local treatment plants. This wide-ranging system benefits from the cooperation of all of our customers to keep the pipelines flowing smoothly. To recognize businesses that are doing their part, IRWD has launched a Sewer Savvy certification program. That means restaurants are following the proper steps in the kitchen and maintaining grease collectors as they should. Property managers are educating their tenants about what can and cannot go down the drain. Plumbers are alerting IRWD to potential tree roots in laterals that could be pushed into the main and cause blockage. (Your “lateral” is the sewer pipe that runs from your house to the main sewage collection line beneath the street.) Our first six Sewer Savvy honorees are: Thai Café, Caspian Restaurant, Heyer Plumbing, Justin Time Plumbing, Barker & Sons Plumbing, and Property Manager Emily Morris of the Irvine Company’s Parklands Apartment Homes. For more information, visit IRWD.com/services/sewer-savvy.

Do Your Part at Home

Show your savvy at home by keeping these products out of your drains and toilets:

• Fats, oils and grease
• Food scraps
• Diapers
• Feminine products and applicators
• Cotton balls and swabs
• Cleaning wipes (all kinds, even those labeled “flushable”)
• Dental floss
• Medications
• Contact lens