Should tenants be charged for flushing……

[Joe S.]

We have a property that a number of months ago we had a plumber that had to clean out the sewage drain lines and he took a video and pictures and the line was plugged with what looked to be industrial strength shop wipes/paper towels, tampons, rags,  ect…

We got contacted by the property manager that the line was stopped up again. We sent a plumber and the plumber unstop it, but took pictures and it had tons of tampons etc. that plugged it. Not only is this clearly something that tenant is doing , but the plumbing is hooked up to a septic system and septic systems do not break down tampons. 
We’re fine with them flushing toilet paper, of course, but tampons/shop wipes, etc. was not meant to be flushed and can damage our septic system according to the plumber.

How would you handle this?

[Adam Bartomeo]

For the tenants education and the owners protection, we have a "Septic Addendum" in place that spells out what can be flushed and cannot. In your case it would be clear that the tenant would be charged to clean out the septic system. Some tenants have never lived with a septic system and do not know what can or cannot be flushed.