After flushing the toilet or rinsing the dishes, most people don’t think about what happens to their wastewater – but we do.

 

Our teams work around the clock to keep sewers flowing - but each year we find 2,800 tonnes of wipes, sanitary products and leftover cooking oils in our region's sewers causing blocked pipes. That's the same as weight as 14 blue whales. But 80% of blockages are avoidable.

 

Just Bin It to avoid blocked pipes​

From wiping bottoms, to removing make up, to keeping things clean – wipes are handy to have around. They may look the same as toilet paper, but wipes don't break down and can take thousands of years to disappear. So no matter what the packets says, they belong in the bin and not down the loo.

Around half a million wipes – that's a whopping 9,500 packets - are flushed into our region's sewers every day. If we all just bin it, together we can avoid blocked pipes and keep the sewers flowing.​

 

Wet wipes are the biggest cause of sewer blockages ​