We've joined forces with Northumbrian Water to encourage our customers and local residents to Bin The Wipe.
The partnership comes after the Group is still receiving a number of reports of blocked drains caused by wipes, with each call out costing us up to £230.
We're encouraging customers to not flush any type of wipes down the toilet. Unlike toilet paper, the wipes do not always break down in the water. Many wipes state they are ‘flushable’, but when they are flushed past the U-bend they can cause blockages in the sewer system, leading to sewer flooding.
Northumbrian Water launched their ‘Bin The Wipe’ campaign in early 2020 after finding that 64% of the 15,000 blockages cleared in the North East in 2019 were caused by wet wipes.
Since launching the campaign, Northumbrian Water have worked with over 200,000 customers in the North East to educate them about the issues wipes are causing which in return has led to them considerably reducing the number of blockages and flooding caused by the wipes. In each of the areas Northumbrian Water has worked in, they have achieved the following:
- Reduced blockages caused by wipes by 50%
- Reduced internal flooding caused by wipes by 77%
- Reduced external flooding caused by wipes by 53%
Steve Lowther, Head of Property Repairs at Gentoo Group said: “Wipes are the biggest cause of blockages and sewer flooding.
“On average the Group’s Drainage Team attend two jobs each day to unblock drains caused by wipes which could have been avoided if the wipes were disposed of correctly in bins.
“We’re asking all our customers to stop flushing wipes down the toilet to help keep the sewers running freely.”
Simon Cyhanko, Head of Wastewater Networks at Northumbrian Water said: “We’re very happy to be working with Gentoo to promote the simple message “Bin The Wipe” to their customers. Wipes cause thousands of blockages every year, leading to sewage flooding into people’s homes, as well as wider environmental impacts. All we ask is that people stop using their toilet as a bin.
“By helping people to understand the problems caused by flushing wipes, and the potentially awful consequences, it really opens people’s eyes and inspires change. That’s why we welcome this partnership with Gentoo to spread the message further. Our “Bin The Wipe” campaign is a big part of why we have seen huge reductions in the numbers of wipes in our network in the areas where the teams have taken action.”
