Yorkshire Water wastewater team’s Despicable find this Unblocktober

It’s Unblocktober, the perfect time to raise awareness about the ‘Bin it, Don’t block it’ messaging where only paper, pee and poo should flush down the loo - to keep our drains and sewers flowing freely.

Yorkshire Water’s customer field service (CFS) team is the first line of defence to help with blockages, they made a ‘Gru-some’ find recently when they attended a pollution related incident in Gleadless, Sheffield earlier this year.

Following a call out to a customer reporting a pong and difficulty flushing their toilets, the fast response team attended and checked a nearby manhole for potential blockages.

They discovered a selection of children’s toys, including Kevin the mischievous Minion (featured), looking somewhat worse for wear and unlikely to be getting a cuddle anytime soon!

Joe Sykes, wastewater regional operations manager, Yorkshire Water, said: “It’s certainly an interesting job being one of the CFS frontline team.  We never quite know what we might find when investigating a blockage or a domestic pollution incident. Teams have discovered abandoned boots, suitcases, rubber ducks and now, Kevin the Minion.”

Blockages can cause sewers and drains to back up and spill into homes and gardens.  However, over 40% of all blockages in the Yorkshire region can be traced back to the wrong items being washed down the sink or flushed down the toilet. The damage, repairs and clean-up operation can be very costly, and with over 20,000 miles of pipework across the region, sticking to the 3-Ps can save a lot of money and distress.

Joe continues: “In this instance, not only was this a sad end to a much-loved toy, it’s also not child’s-play to remove things from drains and sewers that shouldn’t have been flushed down the toilet, thrown into manholes or poured down the sink in the first place.  Anything other than the 3-P’s (paper, pee and poo) such as wipes, cotton-buds, fats, oils and grease (FOGs) can cause really serious blockages, damage property, the environment and cost a lot of money to fix.”

There are lots of handy tips and helpful advice about making small changes that will make a big difference to the environment by checking out the website at:  unblocktober.org or details of Yorkshire Water’s Bin it don’t block it campaign.