South West Water is urging customers to think twice before they flush or drop things down a drain, after engineers pulled a bizarre collection of items from the region’s sewer pipes, including a toy car, armband, football, and even a traffic cone.
While teams are constantly battling with culprits like wet wipes, cooking fat and cotton pads, these latest discoveries - spotted on cameras sent down the pipes - left even the most experienced engineers scratching their head.
“We’re always working to stay prepared for the unexpected,” said Jay Harris, Director of Wastewater Operations at South West Water, “but when a toy car was parked illegally in a sewer pipe, we knew this wasn’t your average day.”
He added:
“We even had a traffic cone making a bid for freedom through the sewer network. It’s amazing what turns up in our sewers, and we really don’t know how these mysterious items get there.”
A serious side
As comical as these fascinating finds may be, the consequences are no laughing matter. Blockages caused by inappropriate items in the sewer can lead to wastewater backing up into homes and gardens, damage to infrastructure, and environmental pollution in local rivers and seas. They can cause flooding in streets, especially during wet weather.
Each year, South West Water clears around 8,500 avoidable blockages, working 24 hours a day at a cost of millions. All of these could be prevented with a little more care about what goes down the loo or sink and especially down the drains.
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