A man in the Wakefield or Brightwater area may not be wearing underpants on Tuesdays, evidence of which has been discovered in one of Tasman's wastewater pumps.
During the past couple of months, contractors have had to deal with regular blockages of the main wastewater pumps in Brightwater.
These are the large pumps in the network which carry all waste from Wakefield and Brightwater through to the regional wastewater treatment plant at Bell Island.
Blockages have been caused by a tea towel, cloth rags, three separate instances of piles of wet wipes and two pairs of undies including one pair of men's boxer shorts labelled Tuesday around the waistband.
A Tasman District Council spokesperson says the pumps are big, so it is not an easy job lifting them out, disassembling them, clearing them, and putting them all back together again.
"Every time we have a blockage there’s potential for a sewage overflow. Please remember the golden rule. Just flush the three P’s – pee, poo and paper (toilet paper)."
Meanwhile, new standards across News Zealand and Australia mean manufacturers now must label items that can be flushed down the toilet. It will now be an offence under the Fair Trading Act for a manufacturer to label a product as flushable if it does not meet the new standards. The new standards mean only flushable products can be labelled as flushable, so check the packaging.
