What's the problem?
Flushing wipes and sanitary products
Wipes and sanitary products should never be flushed down the toilet, even the biodegradable ones. They contain plastic fibres that can build up in your pipes, eventually causing a nasty flood in your garden, or worse, your home. It also damages our environment too.
Nearly 50% of blockages in Yorkshire are caused by wipes.
Tipping fat, oil and grease down the sink
Liquid fats, oils and greases turn solid in your pipes, even if you wash them away with boiling water or washing up liquid. Once inside the pipes they build up and cause blockages that can stop your waste water moving away from your house.
This can cause enormous blockages of fat called fatbergs. The biggest one we've uncovered so far weighed 1.5 tonnes.
What should you do?
Bin It Don't Block It
🚫 What not to flush
You can pop wipes straight into the bin. If you’re disposing of period products, wrap them in a sanitary bag or a bit of toilet tissue first, then bin them as well. This keeps your pipes and the wider sewer system running smoothly.
♻️ Reusable options
Reusable wipes and period products are a brilliant alternative to single‑use items. A soft flannel with cleanser is kinder to your skin and means you can ditch makeup wipes entirely.
🌍 Good for you, good for the planet
Switching to reusables can save you money over time and reduces waste, making it a more sustainable choice for the environment.
What are we doing?
No one wants to see that mucky old wet wipe again, especially when it’s spent some time down the sewers, but it can happen unless we all make a few simple changes and put a stop to blockages.
Wipes, pads and towels
We’ve partnered with Hey Girls to create an education programme around single use period products and provide sustainable alternatives.
Fat, oil and grease
Our Network Protection Team are out and about working with Food Service Establishments in hotspot areas to reduce blockages caused by fats, oils and greases.
Storm overflows
We’ve committed £1.5 billion to improving our storm overflows - that means there are more safe spaces for the water to run off to if there are blockages in the sewers, rather than dirty water backing up into people's homes.
How does it work?
Have you ever wondered what it’s like clearing some of Yorkshire’s nastiest blockages? Follow our Waste Jetting Technician Jake as he shows us a day in his life.