A successful environmental campaign which aims to put an end to sewer flooding is set to target more North East households than ever before in 2024.
Northumbrian Water’s Bin the Wipe campaign, which was recently rolled out across the country, has ambitious goals to deliver the movement to almost half a million more people over the next 12 months.
Communities across the region will see an increase in activity from the Bin the Wipe team as customers in high-blockage areas will receive letters and visits from sewer workers raising awareness of the impacts of sewer flooding.
During the visits, teams on the ground will also be monitoring pipes and using innovative tools to identify where the wipes are being flushed from – helping to educate customers and reduce those blockages and the risks of potential sewer flooding.
In areas that the campaign has already taken place, the water company has seen up to a 91% decrease in the amount of wipes in the sewer network.
Simon Cyhanko, Head of Wastewater Networks for Northumbrian Water, said: “Wipes are without doubt the biggest problem that our teams face every day, and the risk from flushing wipes is that it can lead to some really awful impacts on our customers – such as internal sewer flooding.
“Our Bin the Wipe campaign has seen extraordinary levels of success in the areas that it has been so far, and this year we really plan on ramping this up in order to make flushing wipes a thing of the past.
“So please help out our teams and protect your property by binning all wipes, whether they are baby wipes, makeup wipes or even if they claim to be flushable.”
Since the launch of the Bin the Wipe campaign in 2020, a number of innovative tools have been created by the teams to assist with sewer blockages – such as the Porcupine, the Barbarian and Goliath.
Each of these useful devices help the teams trace where the wipes are coming from, and also assist with their investigations
If you have received a letter from the Bin the Wipe team, find out more here.