Enormous clusters of wet wipes are creating "fatbergs" that are clogging up sewer pipes across New South Wales in Australia.

Among them was a one-tonne cluster that blew out a pumping station

Hunter Water Corporation spokesman Nick Kaiser said that "Wet wipes are responsible for around 80 per cent of all sewer blockages in Hunter Water's system,"

"These can cost thousands of dollars to repair and if they occur in people's private plumbing that cost is worn by the customer." It is a problem worldwide with wet wipes advertised as flushable taking years to break down and sometimes mixing with fats and oils to form "fatbergs".

These can lead to environmental damage when the blockages create sewage overflows into creeks, rivers and beaches.

Each year, Sydney Water removes 500 tonnes of wipes from the network across the Illawarra, Blue Mountains and Sydney every year at a cost of $8 million per year.

"Many customers have told us that based on the flushable labelling of wipes they thought it was OK to flush, only to be hit with expensive plumbing bills," Sydney Water's service delivery general manager Eric de Rooy said.

"Our message to customers is simple," de Rooy said. "Keep wipes out of pipes – bin it, don't flush it."

Source: www.stuff.co.nz