Waste water companies are trying to educate the general public about ‘what to flush’ after the incidence of non-flushable items found in their drainage systems continues to rise year-on-year.
Over the last couple of years there has been a trend for the general public to use supposedly flushable wipes as well as standard toilet tissue. However most of these flushable wipes are not flushable at all and can end up blocking sewers and causing waste water problems.
The problems with these new type of wipes is that they do not break down at the speed of standard toilet tissue, so if they are caught on the inside of the drainage pipes they provide a haven for other items to become lodged increasing the incidence of waste blockages.
London drainage company Thames Water have sponsored a small company who are trying to solve the problem. Freshu are makers of an antibacterial foaming gel which can be applied to standard toilet tissue. Their ‘Keep the wipes out of the pipes’ campaign is being run in conjunction with Thames Water who have seen the incidence of people using wipes increase dramatically in the last year.
Freshu say their gel leaves you feeling ‘shower fresh after using the loo’. Their product is a great innovation which should help reduce the incidence of sewer flooding. However the main problem still lies with unwitting ignorance of the general public, with many people still believing they can flush all sorts of items down the toilet.