News

On New Year’s Eve 2018, there was a terrible scene in Walsall Rd, Cannock.  A suspected burst sewer pipe saw raw sewage spill onto the street.  It turned out to be a blocked sewer full of fat and wipes rather than a burst, and was entirely avoidable.  So now we're asking local residents and businesses to make a New Year’s resolution to stop this from ever happening again.

Grant Mitchell, explains: “Unfortunately, our sewer crews won’t be celebrating the New Year at home tonight – they’ll be hard at work on Walsall Rd, clearing a sewer that is totally blocked with fat and wipes.  We had a call this morning to say that there was a suspected burst sewer as there was a lot of mess on the road, but it turned out to be a manhole overflowing with fat and wipes – items that should never have been in the sewer in the first place.

“Sewer flooding is one of the most horrible things that can happen to our customers and we don’t want people to suffer in this way – it’s entirely preventable.  The drains that take waste water away from your home are only a few inches wide and it doesn’t take much for them to get clogged up with fat, grease and wipes.

“This year we’d like everyone to make a New Year’s resolution to help prevent this.  It’s easy to assume that the warm grease and fat left over from your dinner would be ok to dump down the sink, as long as you wash it down with a lot of hot soapy water. But the reality is that quite quickly the fat and grease will cool and solidify, mixing in with wipes that don’t break down when you flush them, building up and blocking the drain or sewer.

“It’s really easy to do the right thing - wipe out any greasy pans with a bit of kitchen roll, or pour large amounts of left over cooking oil into a pot or jar with a lid and put them into the
bin.  Also, make sure all wipes, cotton buds and other sanitary products go straight into the bin, not down the toilet.  Despite saying so on some packaging, wipes are NOT flushable.

Grant added: “It won’t be a pleasant night for our teams tonight, but they’ll get everything cleaned up by morning.  And we’d love it if everyone could spare a thought for their drains tonight when making New Year’s resolutions.”