False teeth, mobile phones and cuddly toys are just some of the items the ‘unflushables’ Team at Southern Water has found flushed down the toilet. Southern Water is always looking at ways to keep sewer networks free from wet wipes, ‘unflushables’ such as fat, oil and grease. Teams travelling across the region are speaking to customers and businesses, who are unaware of the trouble caused by flushing the incorrect items. Dropping wet wipes and kitchen grease down toilets and sinks causes sewer blockages and pollution incidents. Southern Water take feedback from 25,000 customers a year through door knocking, delivering talks, attending events and carrying mini projects within selected catchment areas. Southern Water has also seen sewage blockages reduce by 20% as a result. Food business blockages have also fallen by 25%. Matt Collins, Field Customer Engagement Officer said:
“We’ve had some unusual items found in the sewers, including false teeth, mobile phones, toys and even an inflatable life jacket. Other strange items include a set of Christmas tree lights and mobile phone, from the same blockage. We’ve also found a pickaxe end in Portsmouth and a pair of jeans in Southampton. “The only things that should be flushed down the toilet are the three Ps – pee, poo and paper. For everything else – Bag it and Bin it.”
I’m sure that the mobile phones would be traceable still and the person who lost them would be glad to have it back after accidently dropping it while flushing.
One does not simply flush a mobile phone on purpose, unless it’s during a police raid.
Yes, drug dealer burner phones, unregistered sim, Or little Johnny flushed it away for his mum… 🙂
Even with an unregistered SIM one would imagine that there must be an sd card inside with photos on it, most sd cards are waterproof, or even try calling the numbers on the SIM if it still works.
Sounds like mum should have used a little Johnny which would have stopped that situation from occurring..
Doesn’t mean you have the right to put your prices up because a child has flushed his Hulk toy. Sort your SH1T out S.W and stop dumping it in the ocean
clearly not unflushables as they were flushed
Wet wipes should be banned, I’ve had trouble with blocked drains backing up to my property because of neighbours using them. I Pulled bags and bags of them out of my blocked drains. They’re a menace.
Pretty obvious that small children are flushing soft toys and it is bound to happen every now and again.
Maybe Southern Water should focus their resources on providing us with reliable drinking water and not pouring torrents of sh*t on our beaches.
When in Greece they supplied little bins next to toilet requesting paper and wipes be placed in there and only body waste be flushed. Perhaps we should adopt the little bin for wet wipes and educate children to stop dropping items down the toilet as most of the picture shows soft toys. Yes I do have a little bin and place wet wipes etc into it for collection on general waste day. As for the mobile phones – don’t put them in your back pocket!
In gaol the only safe place to keep a mobile phone is in your ‘back pocket’
They don’t mention how many tons of waste they’ve pumped into the sea.
Where I used to work we had to put a sticky label on the toilet’s asking people not to put wet wipes down the toilet. Might be a good idea for SW to send one out to all its customer’s to put one on their loo?
990 and 96 springs to flush down, 996 springs!
4000 tones was on the beach ⛱️
That’s why we are all getting screwed an extra 95% on our water bills for water returned to the sewer. It’s supposed to be to pay for maintenance of the plant, but instead it’s being paid to bosses bonuses and share holders