Help us to reduce sewer flooding

Lights, Camera, Action!

Meet Numptee - he's the star of our new campaign. Check out his videos to find out how he's creating all kinds of havoc in his home by putting the wrong things down his toilet and sink.

The five days of Numptee Christmas

Trailer

Episode 1

Keep checking back to see what Numptee is up to. You can also follow his exploits on twitter by clicking here.

What are the problems

Flooding can be caused by a number of different things - lots of rainfall, problems with our pipes or customers putting things like nappies and fat down the sewers.

Over the last five years we've invested £200m on maintaining or replacing our pipes and this has led to a reduction in flooding incidents.

But, we know there is more we can do and many of the sewer pipes we have in Yorkshire are quite old which is why we need to maintain and replace them.  That's why we are investing another £100m over the next five years.

• 40% of people dispose of fat, oils and grease by flushing it down a sink.
• A quarter of all people think it's okay to put items like cotton buds, nappies or sanitary products down the toilet.
• Fats, nappies and wipes were last year responsible for 30% of internal flooding cases in Yorkshire.
• 20,000 blockages were cleared from sewers in the region last year.
• 50% of these were caused by people putting the wrong things down the drains.

Take a tour down a blocked sewer by clicking play in the middle of the video below.

So how can you play your part?

Numptee says...don't put your fat down the sink

Have you ever poured your left-over fat and oil down the sink - then run the hot water and forgotten about it?  If that's you, then your sewer could be blocked with a build-up of fat - and over time it could stop water running away down the sewers causing it to come back up through kitchen sinks, toilets and even baths!  It could cause your house to flood.

So, why not dispose of your fat in a different way.

Trap the fat - with an Organic Fattrap which is like a giant tea bag. Wipe it around the pan when it has cooled, soak up the excess fat and put it on the composter. Click here to order your free fattrap.

Feed the birds - wait for your fat to cool and pour it into a suitable container. Add nuts and seeds once set leave it on your bird table - you'll literally have birds flocking to you. Click here to get the recipe.

Cook vegetables in your left-over bacon fat or place bread in it, stir for maximum absorption, cool thoroughly and serve to the dog - for dog bacon bread!

Or take your fat to a nearby fat collection point.

Numptee says...don't put nappies down the toilet

Yes that's right, people do try to flush nappies down the toilet!  In fact, a third of all blockages caused by putting the wrong things down the sewer, are as a result of nappies.

"What can I use my nappies for you might ask?"  Well re-using them would not be pleasant but you could put them in a bag and bin them.  You may feel like you're adding to land-fill but really there is no other way, unless you want to use reusable or biodegradable ones.

Other things that you shouldn't flush or put down your sink:

• Wipes/Nappies
• Razor blades
• Sanitary towels
• Paint
• Fat/ Oil/ Grease
• False teeth
• Condoms
• Incontinence pants
• Sanitary products
• Food waste
• Plasters
• Cotton buds/wool
• Syringes
• Hair (eg from plug hole)
• Disposable toilet brushes
• Kitchen roll
• Paper/Cardboard
• Plastic bags

All of these items need to be put in the bin and not flushed down the sewer which is for human waste, used water and toilet tissue.

Soak up that fat

Fattraps are a great way to get rid of any extra fat, oil or grease that might be leftover after cooking.

Now you've seen how not to do it, why not order your free Fattrap and do it the right way.

We've a limited number to give away to our customers. All you need to do is click the link below and fill in your details and we'll send you a pack to try in the post.

Please note only one fattrap per household. This offer is exclusive to Yorkshire Water customers only.

Click here to order yours >

Where is your nearest?

With 20,000 blockages cleared from sewers right across Yorkshire last year there's bound to have been at least one in a town near you.

Ever wondered what your neighbour does with their chip fat or how they never seem to have a full dustbin? Well, click on the map below to get inside information on where we have the biggest problems and find out where our numptee detectors have been recently to unblock sewers..

View Numptee Hot spots in a larger map

Remember blockages can be caused by customers and businesses getting rid of their waste in the wrong way.

By following Mr Numptee on twitter you'll be able to see if we are dishing the dirt in your neighbourhood and take a sneaky peak at some of the unusual things that block up our sewers - yes that's right we really do find strange things down there including one particular problem with knickers!!!

Christmas Numptee 

Three quarters of people in Yorkshire mistakenly think it's okay to pour fat from a Christmas dinner straight down the kitchen sink. In a move to warn people about the problems this causes we've created a festive video using our popular Numptee character.

The five days of Numptee Christmas, which features the angelic voices of the Foxhill Primary School choir singing about the things that people shove down the sewer and Numptee's house flooding when his drains become blocked - this shows people that these actions could bring you the wrong kind of present this Christmas.

The Christmas message is 'Bin it. Don't flush it'.

Foxhill Primary has been running a choir for 14 years and has 70 pupils involved from ages 5 -11. In there latest creation the solo is sung by Grace Eyles and conducting the choir is acting head teacher Sally Hey.

The making of Numptee Christmas

The five days of Numptee Christmas

Follow him on twitter.