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Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Flush Wet Wipes

Being careful with what you send down the drains at home or at work is the best way of making sure that you don’t end up with blocked and clogged sewers, which can quickly become very problematic – potentially even resulting in backed-up sewage flooding into your property.

One of the worst culprits for causing blockages is wet wipes – even the ones that say they’re flushable on the packet – and you would be very wise indeed to make sure you never send these spiralling down the drain.

But it seems that there are many out there who aren’t aware of the difficulties that flushing these products can cause, not just for themselves but for their local community. After all, a blocked sewer will affect lots of people and water suppliers will have to divert funds that could be better spent elsewhere resolving the issue.

In fact, in 2017 trade organisation Water UK carried out the biggest-ever in-depth investigation of sewer blockages in the UK and found that flushed wipes are causing very real problems in our sewerage system.

It was found that wipes make up about 93 per cent of the material that causes blockages – important when you think that there are around 300,000 blockages annually, which costs the country £100 million to sort out. Instead, this money could be used to improve services or to reduce bills. 

And thousands of properties see sewer flooding as a result of blockages each year, leading to high cleanup bills and increased insurance costs. There’s also the environment to consider and sewer flooding can cause real damage in this regard, as well.

Just this week (June 2nd), Yorkshire Water had to issue a plea to local residents in Leeds to be careful with what they flush and send down the sink, after the city saw two big sewer blockages that needed to be resolved.

Key workers spent over three hours removing a fat blockage from Weetwood, while a large number of wet wipes had to be removed from a sewer in Headingley.

Similarly, over in Sheffield, key workers had to attend to an incident in the Gleadless area of the city, removing six bags of wet wipes from a single manhole. Once the blockage was sorted out, the sewer level returned to normal, reducing the risk of leaks.

It’s not just wet wipes and fat that you need to be mindful of when using toilets and sinks, however, and you would also be wise to make sure you don’t wash any coffee granules down the drain, as these can cause blockages, as well.

And if you’ve been doing DIY during lockdown, be mindful of how you dispose of any associated waste, as there has been an increase in building materials being sent down into the sewers (including concrete!) over the last few months… and these will cause blockages as well.

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