Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
Medical masks
Medical masks - Credit: mihalec / DepositPhotos - License: DepositPhotos
Business
face masks
sewage
wastewater
RIONED
Hugo Gastkemper
Monday, August 24, 2020 - 14:50
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

Flushed face masks causing major problems at sewage treatment companies

Sewage treatment companies are facing increasing problems caused by face masks and gloves being flushed down the toilet. The Netherlands may soon be dealing with overflowing sewers and tens of millions of euros in damage, Hugo Gastkemper of RIONED, the umbrella organization for urban water management, said to BNR.

As the use of face masks and gloves increases, so does the pollution with these items, Gastkemper said. They get stuck in the pumps that pump waste water to the treatment plants, leading to backups and damages.

He believes that promoting reusable masks can be part of the solution. "It is more sustainable, you have less waste and it is probably more hygienic," Gastkemper said to the broadcaster. He has started a campaign, but would like more support from municipalities and organizations who are making mask wearing mandatory, he said.

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Football match in The Hague ends 37-1
  • Six people say they were pricked in Kaatsheuvel; young woman is unwell
  • Lack of quality control, regulation for children's sleep coaches
  • Unlikely that Putin will turn off the gas tap: Timmermans
  • Ukrainian refugees with host families can miss out on registration, aid
  • Up to three weeks of quarantine after contact with monkeypox patients

Top stories

  • Up to three weeks of quarantine after contact with monkeypox patients
  • Explosion shatters windows in Amsterdam Nieuw-West
  • Doctors must report cases of monkeypox, RIVM advice says
  • 20 injured in Losser farm cart accident, 4 taken to hospital
  • Second case of monkeypox found in the Netherlands: RIVM
  • Much unknown about first Dutch monkeypox cases, experts say

© 2012-2022, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Partner content