Flush right

Everything that's flushed down the municipal sewer ends up in a wastewater treatment plant for treatment. You can influence the treatment process by ensuring that no objects or dangerous substances are flushed down the drain.

Nothing just disappears - everything that's flushed down the drain eventually ends up in the treatment plant. To make sure there are no blockages and malfunctions in sewer networks, pumping stations, treatment plants and in the pipes of your own home - it's important to know what you can och cannot flush.

This is okay to flush

Here are the only things you are supposed to flush down the toilet:

• Pee, poop, vomit and other bodily fluids as well as toilet paper.

This is not okay to flush

Here are the things that cannot be flushed down the drain because they can cause blockages and malfunctions and sewage water to come up through floor drains.

Househould items

Household items such as rags, wet wipes, washcloths, paper towels, sanitary products, kitchen paper, condoms, soaps, dental floss, cigarette butts, cat litter and other similar things are not allowed to be flushed down the toilet. Do this instead:

• Put the items in the residual waste. It's a good idea to have a waste bin in the bathroom, as it makes it easier to sort correctly.

Cooking oil

Frying oil and similar products such as oil from sun-dried tomatoes, barbecue marinade and olive oil are not allowed to be flushed. Liquid grease from the kitchen solidifies in pipes and can cause blockages. Do this instead:

• If you have oil or grease in your frying pan, you can wipe it out with a paper towel and then throw the paper in the brown bag for food waste.
• If there is a lot of liquid fat, pour it into a plastic bottle or a milk carton for example. You can leave a maximum of 33 cl of oil well-sealed in the residual waste.
• Larger quantities can be left at a recycling center for hazardous waste. See the signs on site. The packaging or container must not be larger than 5 liters. The staff will take care of it, so do not use a package that you want to save. This way the oil will be used to make biogas.

Environmentally harmful substances

Substances such as oils, solvents, medicine, paint residues, photochemicals, pesticides, strongly acidic or strongly alkaline liquids and other harmful substances are not to be flushed. Do this instead:

• Leftover medicine should be taken to a pharmacy.
• Paint residues, solvents and other chemicals should be left at one of the municipality's recycling centers in the hazardous waste department.

The wastewater treatment plant is built to remove organic substances and phosphorus, not environmentally harmful substances. The substances can either kill the microorganisms in treatment plants, whose job it is to purify the water, or continue further into our waterways such as lakes, rivers or seas. There it can cause genetic damage and weaken the immune system of fish and organisms.

Waste grinders are not allowed

In Skellefteå municipality, food waste from households, restaurants and the like must be sorted in food waste through brown paper bags and then biologically treated in our biogas plant.

The pipeline network is not capable of transporting food waste, as there is a high risk of operational disruptions as a result. For this reason, we do not allow waste grinders to be connected to the sewer network except in exceptional cases. Waste grinders may only be installed if we approve the application. If the application is approved, measures to separate organic material must be taken. In this case, the property owner must install and pay for a separate tank, the contents of which must be transported to the biogas plant.