Yorkshire Water reveals bizarre sewer finds from rubber ducks to suitcases during Unblocktober
As part of Unblocktober, Yorkshire Water's customer field service teams are raising awareness about the small changes that can make a big difference to the environment.
They've revealed some of the worst items they've found in sewers, which cause nightmares for them in the run up to Halloween.
Blockages are serious business, costing millions of pounds every year to fix due to the damage they cause to the sewer system. With over 20,000 miles of pipework across the region, it's a hefty sum.
READ MORE:Hull City Council Leader urges government to help to safeguard key services
READ MORE:Photographer captures rare ‘Brocken spectre’ phenomenon on camera in East Yorkshire
However, around 40% of all blockages are caused by inappropriate items being washed away in the sink or flushed down the toilet. Only the three P’s - paper, pee and poo - should go down the loo.
In 2023, 31,485 blockages across Yorkshire were cleared - including seven tshirts from a domestic drain in Hull. With small changes, many of these blockages needn't happen.
Yorkshire’s biggest fatberg was found in Leeds, weighing in at 1.5 tonnes and took up 60% of the sewer space in some sections. It took four nights for teams to break down and remove it.
Fats, oils and grease (FOG) are a major cause of blockages across the network. They occur when hot fat or cooking oil is tipped down the sink, which then cools, coagulates and forms a large blob or fatberg in the drainage system.
While fatbergs can be costly to remove, they're simple to prevent. If you allow cooking oil to cool and solidify, wrapping it in kitchen towel and disposing of it in the bin, mini-bergs can be avoided.
Fat traps, which can be attached to sinks to prevent FOG from congealing in the pipework, can be effective for food outlets and the hospitality industry. In York, an innovative technique has been trialled over the past 12 months to reduce blockages caused by fats, oils and greases in the city’s sewers.
Yorkshire Water’s network protection, customer field services and innovation teams worked with Cobra Hydro to install its ‘Bio Pop’ dosing blocks within the sewer network. They are release microbes and enzymes that assist in breaking down fats, reducing the likelihood of blockages and helping to prevent pollution incidents.
Yorkshire Water has also teamed up with EcoClarity at its Saltend wastewater treatment works in Hull, to launch a pioneering trial that aims to convert waste oils that clog sewers into sustainable fuel. The process involves harvesting FOG (fats, oils, and grease) from the sewer network and transforming it into biodiesel. If successful, this trial could potentially fuel the van fleet long term.
Yorkshire Water are also reminding people that wipes should never be flushed down the toilet as they do not disintegrate like toilet paper in the sewer system.
Items designed to absorb moisture, such as nappies and sanitary products, are not meant to be flushed down the toilet either. These items are made from materials that expand when they come into contact with water and other liquids. Yorkshire Water, in partnership with Hey Girls, is expanding its education programme following a successful pilot this spring.
The programme aims to improve period dignity, educate young people about sustainable, reusable period products, and promote alternative methods of disposal to flushing pads and tampons down the toilet, which can cause blockages in the sewer network.
Yorkshire Water has partnered with social enterprise organisation Hey Girls to provide 20,000 reusable, sustainable period packs to selected secondary schools across the region. The project aims to prevent nearly 500k sanitary products from being flushed every year in Yorkshire.