In Great Barrington, it's costing $150,000 annually and is rising at 30 percent per year, to unclog the town sewer system. Reliable estimates put the cost of fixing the wipe clogs nationwide at $1 billion per year.
The cost for a sewer system as small as Great Barrington's is staggering. The annual cost for dealing with so-called "flushable" wipes is estimated to be $150,000 for cleaning and unclogging, with labor alone costing $85,000.
