Thousands Of Sewers Blocked in Ealing Due To ' Fatbergs'

Thames Water campaign comes to borough urging 'bin in, don't flush it'

Related Links

 

Participate

Sign up for our Ealing newsletter

Comment on this story on the

A new campaign urging Ealing residents to bin it not flush it is coming to the borough in a bid to cut down on thousands of sewer blockages.

Thames Water spends £18 million a year clearing 75,000 blockages from the sewer network. The vast majority of these – 87% - are caused by a combination of wet wipes, nappies and sanitary products flushed down the loo mixing with cooking oils flushed down sinks.

These lumps harden and often build to enormous sizes, completely blocking parts of the sewer system and dubbed ' fatbergs'.

Since 2016 in Ealing alone, there have been 5,826 blockages due to fat, grease and wet wipes being disposed of down the loo.

According to surveys people in the Ealing area say they flush wet wipes/nappies/sanitary products down the toilet rather than putting it in the bin because they find it more convenient (14%) they think they should be flushed (14%) or because they don’t think about it (5%).

62% believe that items labelled as flushable can be flushed down the toilet without a problem.

Thames Water’s 'Sewper Heroes' are coming to Southall ( Wed 6th March) with a 3D fatberg artwork that will be placed on the High Street, near Lidl to remind residents of the need to ‘Bin It, Don’t Flush It’.

The company's warning that unless consumers change their habits and put all offending items in the bin rather than the loo then the problem of fatbergs beneath our streets will continue.

 

5th March 2019

Bookmark and Share