Not every piece of litter found on beaches and riverbanks come from the wastewater system. Everyone has the opportunity to reduce litter levels by using bins or by taking your litter home.
Bag It & Bin It is a water industry led national campaign set up following discussions between South West Water, the Marine Conservation Society, Surfers Against Sewage and other organizations to raise awareness of the problem of Sewage Related Debris with and aim to encourage people to dispose of personal waste items carefully, whether in your own waste bins or in special disposal bin in public toilets
If you flush personal waste items like sanitary products and cotton buds down the toilet it can easily lead to blockages in the sewer which can cause flooding. But this isn’t the only problem, when the items gets to the treatment works it can block the filter screens. If it rains heavily, the waste may escape from overflow pipes directly into the river or sea.