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Pouring these products down the sink causes society-wide problems for the entire sewerage system and the workers who maintain it.
Shutterstock/BigLike Images
It’s estimated that 1.63 million tons of material will be produced in 2023 for wet wipes.
Failure by local government to provide basic services has led to protests around South Africa. Now, some residents are resorting to self-help.
EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook
South Africa needs a way to incorporate active citizens within the prevailing constitutional and legal structures, so as to strengthen all levels of government.
Failures by municipalities to do their work are forcing many residents to take matters into their own hands.
EFE-EPA/Nic Bothma
There has been growing discontent with many local authorities and calls by concerned citizens for the municipalities to be dissolved.
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Detection of a virus in wastewater implies the presence of infected people in a community. It’s not quite so simple though.
A tidal drain at South Yarra, Melbourne, in 2008. The installation of litter-trapping equipment now prevents access.
Photo: Victoria Kolankiewicz
What was once the stuff of urban legends now spreads virally through social media claims the tunnels beneath our cities are used for child trafficking. The truth is both more mundane and important.
In the aftermath of a sewer overflow, “flushable” wipes are entangled in the vegetation.
Sydney Water Corporation
Flushable wipes have won a victory in the Federal Court, but you still shouldn’t put them down the toilet.
Don’t believe the wipe hype: they can’t be flushed down toilets, not matter what the label says.
SIM Central and South East Asia Follow/Flickr
Just because something is advertised as ‘flushable’ doesn’t mean you should put it in your toilet.