It's not a new issue at all. Tauranga City Council has a campaign called 'Save Our Pipes from Wipes', because, according to their website, about two tonnes of wet wipes are removed from Tauranga's wastewater system every week.
Rotorua has had its fair share of sewerage blockages thanks to people flushing wipes down their toilets too, with stories featured in this paper highlighting it as an issue since at least 2015.
I really don't think you can claim ignorance on this issue anymore.
Not only is fixing this problem inconvenient and costly, the environmental impact of wastewater polluting our waterways is even more concerning.
If only the blockages could be restricted to the pipes of only the offending households, I'm sure the problem would stop pretty swiftly.
Wet wipes do not break down. They get hooked on other solid parts of the system, clogging pipes and pumps, creating a build-up that can only eventually overflow.
The moral of the story is don't flush wet wipes down the toilet - even if they claim to be flushable on the packaging.
If it's not toilet paper or human excrement people should not flush it down the loo.
Surely that's not too hard to understand?