Three things each, and nothing else
The toilet
- Pee
- Poo
- Toilet paper
Plus any product that meets the Flushable Products Standard, AS/NZS 5328:2022.
Sinks and drains
- Water
- Detergent
- Soap
Sydney Water’s whole list for anything poured away.
What blocks the pipes, and where it goes instead
These are the items Sydney Water names, in its own reasons.
| Item | What Sydney Water says | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Non-flushable wet wipes | Contribute to 75% of wastewater blockages. Before flushing any wipe, including baby, make-up and disinfectant wipes, check the pack shows the flushable icon and the Australian Flushable Products Standard, AS/NZS 5328:2022. | The bin |
| Paper towels | Made for durability. They don’t break down like toilet paper. | The bin |
| Tissues | Look like toilet paper but don’t break down easily in water, so they build up. | The bin |
| Hair | Doesn’t dissolve. It floats and snags on other things in the pipe. | The bin |
| Cotton buds | Made of materials that don’t break down, and they tangle with other items in the sewer. | The bin |
| Dental floss | On Sydney Water’s list of everyday items clogging up the pipes. | The bin |
| Fats, oils and grease | Cool and harden in wastewater pipes, then combine with unflushable waste to make fatbergs. | A sealed container in the garbage bin, or cooking oil to a Community Recycling Centre, in containers up to 20 litres |
| Unused milk | Sydney Water groups it with oily products. | A sealed container in the garbage bin |
| Food scraps | Catch them with a strainer in the kitchen sink so they don’t get into the pipes. | Compost or the garbage bin; some councils collect food waste in the green bin (FOGO) |
For the Community Recycling Centres that take cooking oil and motor oil, Sydney Water links the NSW EPA’s page. To check what Liverpool’s bins take, see the council’s kerbside bins page.
How a kitchen and a bathroom make one blockage
When oil and grease meet the cool water in wastewater pipes, they harden. Then they combine with other waste, such as unflushable wet wipes, into a hard blockage known as a fatberg.
Sydney Water says the resulting overflows can be a health and environmental nightmare, with wastewater backing up into homes, backyards and local waterways, and that a blocked drain can mean an expensive plumbing bill. It says fats, oils, milk and food scraps tipped into the sink can badly block your home’s pipes: they stick together, clog the drains, build fatbergs and add load to Sydney’s wastewater treatment system.
Three readings from Sydney Water
$27 millionAs much as Sydney Water spends every year clearing up to 20,000 blockages from its wastewater system.
Hundreds of tonnesOf unwanted bathroom products and kitchen waste it removes from waterways and its wastewater system each year.
Nearly 5 millionPeople contributing to Greater Sydney’s wastewater every day, in Sydney Water’s words.
Four habits Sydney Water suggests
- Put a strainer in the kitchen sink, so food waste stays out of the pipes.
- Keep a sealed container for excess cooking oil and unused milk that goes in the garbage bin.
- Collect food scraps for compost or the garbage bin.
- Check any wipes for the flushable icon and AS/NZS 5328:2022 before flushing them.
If something has already gone down and a drain is slowing, Pit 01 covers the signs and who clears the blockage.