News

Severn Trent engineers recently discovered huge piles of wipes when they went to investigate a sewer blockage in Doncaster.

Severn Trent’s sewer blockages lead, Grant Mitchell, says: “We appreciate that it’s a worrying time for everyone at the moment and we want to reassure our customers that we’re working really hard to keep our essential services running. And one of those essential services is unblocking clogged up sewer pipes. 

“This blockage could have been easily prevented if people just simply binned their wipes and other items such as sanitary products, instead of putting them down the loo. Many people are unaware that the drains that take waste water away from their home are actually only a few inches wide and it doesn’t take much for them to get clogged up with unflushable items. A blockage this size could have easily caused sewer flooding for homes nearby, which would be horrible for anyone to have to experience and totally avoidable.”

The company said that in the last year it has been called out to hundreds of blockages in the Doncaster area, of which more than three quarters were caused by people flushing the wrong things into the sewer system.  

Grant added: “Mostly, when we ask people why they flush wipes, it’s simply because they don’t know that they shouldn’t. This blockage is the result of everyone flushing just one wipe here and there, and not realising that it’s all collecting in the pipe and creating a big blockage like this. So we’re asking for help from the people of Doncaster to help reduce the number of sewer blockages in their area, by making sure all wipes, nappies, cotton buds and other sanitary products go into the bin, not down the toilet. These relatively small changes will make a big difference and hopefully avoid any more horrible messes.” 

If you do run into problems, either slow drains or a blocked sewer which is Severn Trent’s responsibility you can report it at www.stwater.co.uk or by calling 0800 783 4444.