University asks students stop flushing socks down the toilets

Somebody is socking it to the toilets at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and campus maintenance officials are not amused.

Hundreds of socks have been flushed at the UAF Fine Arts Complex since December, creating havoc on the building’s sewer system. Maintenance Superintendent Bill Cox figures the stray socks have caused at least $15,000 in equipment damage and labor costs.

Cox said unusual things end up in sewer drains all the time. But the wave of socks has come at an alarming rate — the maintenance staff has a 30-gallon bucket that’s nearly full of socks retrieved from the system. The socks are mainly children’s sizes, Cox also said the strange habit must be costing a fortune.

.

.

Maintenance workers posted signs in bathrooms last week asking people not to flush socks. It didn’t slow things down — about 40 more socks showed up in the next few days.

Cox said maintenance workers will continue to routinely check the system. He isn’t sure what else can be done to stop the problem campus officials admit they don’t know who’s behind it. “You can’t put cameras in the restrooms,” Cox said. "We’re just kind of at a loss."
.