"What comes out of you and toilet paper." These are the only things that should be flushed down the toilet. This informative and entertaining video shows in a great visual way what happens to some common bathroom throw-aways when they're flushed down the toilet - so-called "flushable" things like kitty litter or baby wipes. In a demonstration by a sewage pre-treatment technician, wastewater customers can see what happens when facial tissue, cotton swabs and feminine napkins are sent through the wastewater system.

Extreme weather events such as hurricanes and continuing drought can have devastating impacts to utilities. It's important that utilities identify actions they can be taking to better prepare for these events. EPA's Climate-Ready Water Utilities initiative has released a workshop planner to help utilities plan for extreme events. The workshop planner provides all of the materials needed to plan, conduct, and facilitate an adaptation planning workshop on five extreme event scenarios:  floods, drought, wildfire, sea level rise, and reduced snowpack.

Despite using and benefitting from drinking water and wastewater systems multiple times every day, most of us don't even think about or know how these systems work. It takes a lot, in terms of natural, human, financial and other resources, as well as physical, chemical and biological processes, to bring clean, safe drinking water to your home and to deal with the waste you produce from a toilet or washing machine.