Tenant ordered to pay damages after wet wipes clog water pump

Wet wipes are a common cause of blocked pipes. Photo / 124RF

A tenant has been ordered to pay a series of costs after wet wipes clogged a water pump at her rental.

Colette van Zijl has since moved to South Africa, but had been living in a Kumeu property being managed by Steven Hang.

Hang told the Tenancy Tribunal the water pump was new when the property was built in 2019.

A person had lived in the property for a year before Zijl - who attended the meeting by phone - moved in.

Soon after van Zijl moved out the pump's warning light began flashing and a technician Hang called to look at the pump found it had been damaged "by many
wet wipes in the tank".

"Further the stator had burned out due to wipes being wrapped around the rotor," adjudicator Nicole Walker wrote in her decision.

Van Zijl said she shouldn't be liable for the pump repairs and instead put the blame on the new tenants, who she believed had lived there a week before the issue popped up.

She also told Walker that she had not used "wet wipes on a daily basis".

"She suggested that the previous tenants may have used wet wipes as well."

However, Hang said the new tenants had only been living at the property for a couple of days before the warning light started flashing.

Walker noted that van Zijl did not deny using wet wipes and found it "unlikely" that the
first tenants, who had not lived in the premises for at least 20 months before
the issue arose, were responsible for the large amount of wet wipes reported to
have damaged the pump.

"I think it also unlikely that the new tenants were able to cause the damage in the one or two days that they lived there.

"On the evidence, I am satisfied that the tenant is responsible for the damage to the pump."

Hang told Open Justice "it's common sense" that wet wipes block pipes.

He said the water pump had also rusted because of the blockage and was another reason the damage wasn't caused in one or two days.

Walker ordered that $1216.83 be deducted from van Zijl's $3040 bond and paid to Hang.

Other costs awarded include lost heat pump and garage door remotes and $100 cleaning fee for a carpet stain and damage to a bathroom vanity.

"I understand that the tenant was present at the exit inspection but had to leave
soon afterward to go to the airport.

"It is not necessary for the landlord to provide the tenant with an opportunity to fix any issues at the end of the tenancy. The tenant should be liable for any damage that was caused during the tenancy that is more than fair wear and tear."

Councils around the country have urged residents not to flush wet wipes down toilets after a series of blockages, including what was dubbed a "fat berg" found in a Taupo wastewater pipe in 2018.