Please join us for a tour of the Middlesex County Utilities Authority Wastewater Treatment Plant in Sayreville on Friday, October 17, 1-3pm. We will learn how Middlesex County works to remove and eliminate contaminants from wastewater and convert it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle through a primary outfall in the Raritan River. Space is limited, pre-registration required.

During the LRWP’s pathogens monitoring work we often observe “flushable” sanitary wipes floating in the River and caught in vegetation along the riverbank. So-called “flushable” wipes are non-flushable! They are typically made from synthetic materials and do not easily break down in sewer systems.

There is no such thing as a “flushable” wipe!

These materials escape the process of wastewater treatment, most typically at the point at which sanitary sewage infrastructure and stormwater infrastructure meet, in an outdated system called a “combined sewer”. As these materials escape the processing system, they contribute to the presence of disease-causing pathogens in our waterways and cause beach closures. As they are caught up in the processing activity, they lead to huge costs to wastewater systems like the treatment plant in Sayreville, causing clogs and damage to wastewater pipes, pumps, and treatment equipment.

Treatment plants like MCUA regularly clear combined sewers of the clogs of sanitary wipes and other materials that become trapped in underground intercepting structures to limit the flows of this waste through the CSO outfalls. While conducting pathogens monitoring on June 5, 2025 at our water monitoring station near Perth Amboy’s Wilentz Elementary School, the LRWP team observed a pile of the waste cleared from an intercepting structure near the MCUA-managed CSO. Approximately four tons of wipes and feces were removed from the interception point and deposited on land to await transport to a landfill.

This practice of removing wipes from interception points and dumping them on land to minimize flush into waterways and damage to sanitary sewage infrastructure is not unique to the MCUA, or even to CSOs in New Jersey. This is a permitted practice under the Clean Water Act that is managed by the state Department of Environmental Protection. Each CSO has a separate permit, and each municipality must adopt a Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) for CSO management.

Taking Action

Could present day practices be improved for our local CSOs? Absolutely. All utilities should be working to identify and elevate best practices with respect to CSO management. As the state NJDEP moves toward repermitting for CSO management in coming months, we think the MCUA could set a fantastic example for the rest of the state.

In addition, in March 2025 Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain of Michigan introduced H.R. 2269, the Wastewater Infrastructure Pollution Prevention and Environmental Safety (WIPPES) Act. On June 23, 2025 it passed the Senate and moved to the House where its companion S. 1092 (Merkley) was favorably reported out of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in late May. The WIPPES Act would establish a national “DO NOT FLUSH” labeling standard for non-flushable wet wipes. If WIPPES is signed into law, wet wipe manufacturers would be required to place symbols and standard language labeling on products that recommends consumers not flush the wipes after use. It would further restrict any verbiage on packaging that would imply that the product is actually flushable. Regulation of the policy would have the teeth of the Federal Trade Commission, with violations punishable as an unfair or deceptive practice.