Wipes are handy for wiping bottoms, removing make up and cleaning up big messes around the home – but they're also the biggest cause of sewer blockages. Last year our teams cleared 35,000 blockages to keep the sewers flowing, but 80% are avoidable and mostly caused by wipes and other unflushables that belong in the bin.

Why Just Bin It?

Every day in our region a whopping half a million wipes are flushed causing blocked pipes. With nowhere else to go, wastewater backs up, flooding homes and gardens through overflowing toilets and manholes or - polluting local waterways which can be harmful to the environment.

Small changes make a big difference. Explore our tips to protect your pipes in the bathroom and kitchen.

All wipes block pipes

Even flushing one wipe can cause a blockage when it meets other wipes from down your street – because they don’t break down like toilet paper. No matter what the packet says, even wipes that say they’re ‘flushable’, ‘plastic free’ or ‘fine to flush’ belong in the bin.

What else is blocking pipes

It’s not just wipes that are causing problems. Leftover cooking fat, oils and grease don't stay liquid for long, solidifying in the pipes and getting caught on sanitary products that also don’t break down.

How we’re keeping sewers flowing

Our teams clear a blockage every 15 minutes as part of our work cleaning and clearing the pipes to prevent sewer flooding. From smart sewer monitors, to robot crawlers and spikey hedgehog devices – we're using state of the art kit to alert us to potential blockages before they become a problem – all to keep toilets flushing and wastewater flowing.