Avoid blocked drains this winter

When it’s cold outside, you’re more at risk from blocked drains. Let’s help you protect your home from costly blockages and flooding.

Meet Grant

“Did you know that most waste pipes are only the size of a saucer? When it’s cold, it only takes a few wipes and some gravy down the drain to cause a problem.”

Meet Grant, one of our winter helpers here at Severn Trent helping customers protect their homes this winter.

Be a binner, not a blocker

Flushing wet wipes and rinsing fats, oils and grease down the sink clogs pipes. Last year alone, our team cleared over 28,000 blockages caused by this nasty stuff.

With nowhere for it to go, that could mean sewage flooding back into your garden and home. One of our winter helpers here at Severn Trent, Jackie, unfortunately knows this all too well, “I came home one day to find the ground floor of my house covered in sewage. Just imagine other people’s poo in your home. Devastating doesn’t even cover it. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

To protect your home and neighbourhood from flooding, it’s as simple as following the tips below. So, this winter, be a binner, not a blocker.

In your kitchen

As well as busting blockages, Grant loves whipping up a roast dinner for his family. Here are his top tips for avoiding a winter meltdown:

In your bathroom

What about those dirty faces and sticky hands in the bathroom? It’s simple to keep your bathroom in tip tap shape this winter:

Sewer Stories as told by…

When it comes to toilet talk our team have seen it all.

So here with the scoop straight from the sewers and myth busting from the manholes are: Damien, Kirsty, Fran, Jaydan and Leighton. The team deal with drain blockages every day, and have seen first-hand the horrors unflushables can cause in homes…

Unflushables fighter, Fran

Proud poo pusher, Kirsty

Blockage busting brothers, Leighton and Jaydan

Wet wipe warrior, Damien

The bottom line? All wipes are unflushable

Even the ones labelled as biodegradable or “Fine to Flush”.

They don’t break down in the sewer, causing blockages in the network and flooding in your home.

“But it’s just one…” you might say. If we all flushed ‘just one’, there would be nearly 8 million of them a day, causing blockages in our pipes.

So, when you’re done with your wet wipe, please pop it in the bin, not down the loo. 

Extra protection for your home this winter

If the worst does happen, you need to know there is someone reliable you can contact to help.

Sometimes you have to see it to believe it. These are just some of the nasty things our winter helpers have found down the drains recently – imagine that in your bathroom...

Our support isn’t just for winter…

We take blockages extremely seriously.

We have a dedicated team working to improve and protect our network.

Over the next five years (2025 - 2030), we’re going to spend £12.9 billion on running our day-to-day business and making improvements for customers and the environment.

Let’s work together to stop the block and keep our water flowing.