All wipes including toilet wipes, baby wipes, make-up wipes and cleaning wipes should all be binned after use – even ones that say they are flushable.
Wipes don’t break down like toilet roll, and our toilets and sewer pipes are not designed to deal with them.
Even if they aren’t in your toilet bowl after you’ve flushed the toilet, they are likely to cause a blockage further down the pipes, near your home, or someone else’s.
Flushed wipes contribute to more than 60% of sewer blockages in the North East – it’s a huge issue.
Other factors can contribute to blockages too. Disposing of food waste, fat and oils down your sinks and toilets can build up over time to create “fatbergs” which block and damage pipes and can result in further damage to your home. Instead, allow the fat/oil to cool and solidify in the pan or a heat proof container, then use a paper towel or spatula to scrape the solidified fat/oil into a disposable container and put it in the bin.
When sewage and water can’t flow down the pipes because of a blockage, it has to go somewhere else. This could be back into your home through the toilet, or drains in your bath, shower, and sinks, or outside through manholes or drains, potentially causing harm to the environment. This is an ongoing problem, and you are at risk unless people stop flushing wipes and disposing of waste through sinks and toilets.
Northumbrian Water is working hard to raise awareness of these issues so that you know about the problems wipes can cause.
We can work together to reduce the risk of flooding to your home, and your neighbours, and damage to the environment by making that one simple change: Bin the Wipe.
You can find out more on Northumbrian Water’s website here: Bin the wipe (nwl.co.uk).