Housing group and water company urge 'Bin the Wipe'

Sunderland-based Gentoo receives many reports of blocked drains from wipes, with each call-out costing the group up to £230. The group is urging tenants not to flush wipes of any type down the toilet. Unlike toilet paper, the wipes do not always break down in the water.

Many wipes are packaged as “flushable’, but when flushed past the U-bend they can cause blockages and floods in the sewer system.

Northumbrian Water launched a Bin The Wipe campaign in early 2020 after finding that 64% of the 15,000 blockages cleared in the North East in 2019 were caused by wet wipes.

Since then the water company has worked with over 200,000 customers in the region to educate them about the issue. This has led to a considerable reduction in blockages and flooding caused by wipes.

There have been reductions in problems cause by wipes including: blockages by 50%, internal flooding by 77% and external flooding by 53%

Steve Lowther, head of property repairs at Gentoo said: “Wet wipes are the biggest cause of blockages and sewer flooding.

“On average the group’s drainage team attends two jobs each day to unblock drains caused by wipes which could have been avoided if the wipes were disposed of correctly in bins.

“We’re asking all our customers to stop flushing wipes down the toilet to help keep the sewers running freely.”

Simon Cyhanko, head of wastewater networks at Northumbrian Water said: “We’re very happy to be working with Gentoo to promote the simple message, ‘Bin The Wipe’, to their customers.

“Wipes cause thousands of blockages every year, leading to sewage flooding into people’s homes, as well as wider environmental impacts. All we ask is that people stop using their toilet as a bin.

“By helping people to understand the problems caused by flushing wipes, and the potentially awful consequences, it really opens people’s eyes and inspires change. That’s why we welcome this partnership with Gentoo to spread the message further.

“Our ‘Bin The Wipe’ campaign is a big part of why we have seen huge reductions in the numbers of wipes in our network in the areas where the teams have taken action.”