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Northumbrian water has today launched sewer “porcupines” to help trap items that could block the drains.
The porcupines are heavy metal blocks fitted with an array of angled spikes and an attachment eye, which are lowered into the sewers through manhole covers.
Wipes and other items wrongly flushed down toilets are snagged on the porcupine spikes. The porcupine is then removed, along with the trapped items, to prevent a blockage build up.
The devices also allow the source of the wipes to be traced back to individual sewers to raise customer awareness.
Wipes are responsible for more than 3,000 blockages a year in the North East, a quarter of all blockages in the region.
Clearing the blockages caused by wipes in the North East costs Northumbrian Water almost £250,000 a year, and the company’s treatment works remove 3,000 tonnes of wrongly flushed waste a year.
Northumbrian Water’s wastewater director, Richard Warneford, said: “We really need our customers to help us to wipe out the flushing of wipes.
“People may believe they are flushable but they do not break up and they clog the sewers and cause untold damage.
“The statistics are shocking and, indeed may be even worse as wipes could well be responsible for many more of the blockages we clear as we don’t always find out what’s caused them.
“Blockages can have devastating consequences with people’s homes being flooded and the environment being polluted.
“It’s also an expensive business to deal with which results in unnecessary costs for the water company and our customers.”
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