In the UK and Wales, 75% of sewer blockages are due to the disposal of items in drains or sewers and the majority of flooding incidents are caused by these blockages.
According to research in Yorkshire, 40% of the citizens dispose fat, oil and grease in the sink and nearly a quarter of them think that it is okay to dispose things like cotton buds or nappies down the toilet.
The Bin It Don’t Flush It campaign uses an animated character named Numptee to communicate the effects of putting things in to the sewers. In this animated movie, Numptee dumps the waste in the sewer or sink and watches as his home is flooded.
Trevor Birch, Network Asset Manager at Yorkshire Water said that they are seeing more floods in the UK due to the recent bad weather and the consequences could be worse if the sewers are blocked by nappies or fat.
He also said that last year 30% of internal flooding in Yorkshire was due to nappies and fat in the drains.