It is passed through a mesh (can’t remember the sizing). Anything that doesn’t pass through is assessed for percentage of the original and this gives it a rating of disintergration.
This is the International Water Services Flushability Group recommends as a disintegration test:
Products shall meet the requirements specified in IWSFG 2018: PAS 3 Disintegration Test Method – Slosh Box. To be acceptable: If there is material left on the 25 mm sieve after the 1-minute rinse, the percent of the total initial dry mass passing through the 25 mm sieve for the five (5) test specimens after 30 minutes of testing shall be greater than 95%. This result shall be supported with visual examination and pictures of solids on the sieve, as described in IWSFG 2018: PAS 3.
Testing for wipes as an industry standard is different:
The disintegration test is described as follows:
The test system consists of a box oscillating at 26 rpm,containing 2 liters of tap water or wastewater (optional) in which a single individual nonwoven wipe is run for 60 minutes.Subsequently, the contents of the box are transferred to and then rinsed through a 12.5 mm perforated plate sieve resting at least 2” above a surface. The portion of the wipe retained on the sieve are recovered, dried and analyzed gravimetrically. This measurement is used to calculate the percent of the wipe’s initial dry mass passing through the sieve based on difference.At a minimum, this test is repeated with six replicate wipes.
The pass/fail criteria is:To be acceptable:The percent of the starting dry mass passing through the 12.5mm perforated plate sieve after 60 minutes must be greater than 60% for at least 80% of the individual replicates tested.
If the wipe manufacturers can pass the INDA/EDANA guidelines they are not misrepresenting their product, which is apparently part of what the court determined
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