Severn Trent has revealed some of the more peculiar items discovered blocking the sewers over the last year.

The water company has done so in efforts to enlighten customers on sewage blockages, and appeal to customers to help prevent the thousands of blockages that are the bane of their waste teams. The water company revealed that a startling 28,782 blockages were handled and cleared in the past year alone.

Wet wipes are highlighted as the primary culprits of blockages, which could have been mitigated if wet wipes had been disposed of into waste bins rather than flushed down the sink or toilet.

 

 

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To raise awareness on what can be discarded down sewers, the company has launched its 'Sewer Stories' to showcase the work of waste crews to keep sewers clear and the odd finds they come across in the process - including everything from false teeth to car tyres.

Surprisingly, even those labelled as 'flushable' or 'biodegradable' fail to disintegrate like toilet paper, leading to massive problems, including blockages causing sewage backup into homes, proving unpleasant and costly to resolve.

The company reported that approximately two and a half tonnes of wipes and other such items discarded down the toilet are removed from our sewers - the equivalent weight of an African Elephant.

Other items frequently causing obstructions include kitchen roll, cotton buds, nappies, and sanitary products.

When these mix with fats, oils, and greases, which also should not be disposed of down the sink, they spawn 'fatbergs'.

The company has appealed to people to be a "binner, not a blocker".

Sewer blockages lead at Severn Trent, Grant Mitchell, said: "Wet wipes and other unflushables are a huge problem for our sewers, which in turn is causing big problems for our customers.

“We are reminding everyone not to put anything down the toilet other than the three P’s, that’s pee, poo and paper and our Sewer Stories will get that message across and showcase the work that the teams do, how blockages are managed by our teams and what they need to do to avoid creating them."