Inside the sewer pipe in Warwick that keeps getting blocked by fats, oils and greases and wet wipes

Residents and businesses in Warwick are being urged to not misuse the sewer network in the town after a series of major blockages.

Last week, the water and waste company’s network protection team, in collaboration with contract partners ECAS, posted hundreds of letters and had doorstep conversations with customers in the town.

They also met with nearly 100 food service establishments who have vowed to install grease trapping equipment in their kitchens to help tackle the problem.

This campaign comes as a major pipe on Mill Street is regularly getting blocked by fats, oils and greases (FOG) as well as ‘unflushables’ such as wet wipes.

The pipe has to be cleared by Severn Trent engineers every 12-18 months, which can cause disruption to those living in the area.

The company urged customers in Warwick to keep the network free of blockages by giving advice such as waiting for FOG to cool before disposing of it in the bin, and only flushing the three P’s – pee, paper and poo.

Grant Mitchell, Severn Trent’s blockages lead, said: “We’d like to thank everyone who took the time to have a chat with us this week in Warwick.

"Our team had a great time meeting customers and spreading our important messages and hopefully we can keep Warwick blockage free.

“The last thing anyone wants is for their home or business to be faced with sewer flooding that’s totally avoidable.

"We were finding that our team were being called to Mill Street to clear blockages more frequently than we’d expect, with the majority of issues being caused by sewer misuse as the pipe was blocked with FOG and wipes.

"Most recently, our teams had to go into the pipe for a thorough deep clean and removed a huge amount of FOG.

“When FOG enters our sewer network, it can attach to other things that shouldn’t be flushed, such as wipes and sanitary products and quickly block sewer pipes.

"Blockages can cause sewage to back up into people’s homes, the street or even into the local environment and it’s totally avoidable.”

For more information go to: www.stwater.co.uk/my-supply/waste-water/looking-after-your-sewers/avoiding-blockages/