Yorkshire Water customers pledge to stop flushing wipes

A campaign by Yorkshire Water to tackle the growing problem of wet wipes blocking sewers saw more than 99 per cent of Leeds residents who previously flushed wipes vow to change their ways.

Every year, Yorkshire Water has to repair more than 30,000 sewer blockages, 40 per cent caused by wet wipes, which costs the company £2.4 million.

Spreading the message that flushing wipes blocks pipes, the water company deployed their “wipesaur,” an eight-foot-tall fatberg dinosaur mascot, alongside members of their event team at supermarkets and along highstreets.

The team informed members of the community about the damage caused by flushing wipes, even those marketed as “flushable” if they do not bear the new “fine to flush” symbol, and pouring fat and oil down drains. When made aware, 92 per cent of residents said they would properly dispose of oil in the future.

Water companies have been stepping up their fight against drain blockages, with instances and sizes of fatbergs on the rise. In February a 90-tonne fatberg was discovered under Liverpool, and at the end of March Devon’s largest ever fatberg was removed by South West Water.

Yorkshire Water campaign lead, Adrian Flanagan, said: “Blockages in our network are a big issue for us and LS8 and LS9 [postcodes] are hotspots.

“It is great to see the public speaking to our team and taking the valuable messages away with them. Wipes do not break down and can quickly build up, causing blockages which are not only unpleasant but can cost homeowners a lot of time and money to clear up.

“There’s a simple rule for things you should flush down the toilet; stick to the three Ps – pee, poo and paper.”

The company has also set up a £40,000 community fund for charities in four areas, including Leeds, to encourage residents to reduce the number of blockages in their areas.

The community organisations and charities in the area which keep the sewers the cleanest will be awarded their share of the money.

At the end of March, Ofwat’s chief executive Rachel Fletcher took part in Thames21’s “big wet wipe count”. The yearly event sees volunteers collect and count the number of wet wipes that have washed up on a roughly 100m² section of the bank of the Thames, in order to gauge the extent of the problem along the river.

Thames Water installed a “special edition” manhole cover in September last year to mark the first anniversary of the discovery of the 130-tonne Whitechapel fatberg.

The 250-metre long congealed mass of fat, oil, grease, nappies, wet wipes and other sanitary products blocked an east London sewer and took 13-weeks to remove.