Do you know what this is? A couple of hints, it’s not a Medieval weapon or something you would find around Halloween season.

It is actually a piece of equipment that is being used by Severn Trent teams to help tackle blockages caused by the likes of wet wipes. Unless cleared, these blockages can build up and cause sewage to back up and flood into customers’ homes and gardens.

Called the Stickleback, the device sits in the sewer and grabs wet wipes that pass through, and it is really helpful to teams to prove the misuse of wet wipes that are being flushed down the toilet.

The water company wanted to highlight everything that goes into clearing and preventing blockages during Unblocktober, the annual campaign to get customers thinking about what they are putting down their toilets and sinks that can cause nasty issues, and the Stickleback is just one thing that is helping the company and customers.

Grant Mitchell, sewer blockages lead at Severn Trent, said: “It may look like some age-old device or something gruesome for the spooky season, but the Stickleback is an extremely useful tool.

“We are always looking for new ways to help with blockages and make sure that customers' homes are protected, and blockages don’t back up into causing flooding that can be costly to fix.

“The other way to prevent blockages is by remembering that only the three P’s - pee, poo, and toilet paper should be flushed down the loo, anything else will most likely create an issue for yourself or your neighbours.”

Severn Trent is reminding customers to ‘Be a binner, not a blocker’ as waste crews at the water company managed to clear a shocking 28,782 blockages last year, which could’ve been avoided if incorrect items were not put down the toilet and sink. 

One of the biggest issues that cause blockages is wet wipes, even those that say ‘flushable’ or ‘biodegradable’ on the packaging don’t break down like toilet paper, as well as kitchen roll, cotton buds, nappies and sanitary products.

When all these are congealed together with fats, oils and greases, they create fatbergs. That’s why everyone is being asked to bin everything that should not be flushed down the loo or poured down the sink.

Around two and a half tonnes of wipes and other items which shouldn’t be put down the toilet are pulled out of our sewers each year. While recently Severn Trent announced that 14 million litres of fats, oil and greases (FOG) have been successfully cleared from sewers, the equivalent of SIX Olympic size swimming pools, saving customers unnecessary and potentially costly issues.

For advice about blockages visit www.stwater.co.uk/avoidblockages or for more information about the Unblocktober campaign visit www.unblocktober.org.  

Anyone who has a problem, either with slow drains or a blocked sewer, can be reported here or by calling 0800 783 4444.