Yahoo News Northumbrian Water find 57 vapes causing blockage of sewer pipe in Darlington
A team of wastewater operators from Northumbrian Water who were called out to deal with a blockage in Darlington were stunned to find the issue was caused by 57 used vapes wedged inside a pipe.
The team were called to a street in the west end of the town in August after being made aware of reports of a blocked sewer.
However, when they entered the chamber and started looking into the fix, they realised the blockage was being caused by a large number of vapes squashed in the pipe. The team inspected the network removed the electrical devices, before carrying out a routine cleanse of the pipework.
Simon Cyhanko, Head of Wastewater Networks at Northumbrian Water, said: "The teams often find all sorts down in the sewers, but it’s the first time we have seen something on this scale.
“As well as causing blockages, vapes are also possible explosive devices and have the potential to be dangerous. Thankfully though, with the hard work of our teams, they were able to be removed quickly and safely without environmental impact, and we are working to identify and educate those responsible.
“We often see things in the sewers that shouldn’t really be there, so we would like to remind customers that only paper, pee and poo go down the loo."
Mr Cyanko reiterated the importance of binning wipes rather than flushing them as well: “As well as the strange things we have found in our network, our biggest cause of sewer blockages still is wipes, so please remember to Bin the Wipe in order to help our teams on the ground.”
