‘Stop flushing kitchen roll and wipes down the toilet’

Severn Trent Water sympathise that many people have been unable to buy loo rolls due to panic buying and a shortage of supplies since the Covid-19 crisis.

But they say kitchen roll and wipes should be bagged up and then placed in bins rather than flushed down the toilet.

The water company has been busier than normal and dealt with over 3,000 reports of sewer flooding and blockages in the last two weeks, and reports more blockages being full of kitchen roll.

Severn Trent’s sewer blockages lead, Grant Mitchell, said: “We’re seeing more and more blockages caused by kitchen roll and wipes.

“We know that some people are having to resort to using a whole manner of things to substitute for toilet roll at the moment, but a sewer blockage is the last thing that anyone needs right now.

“So we wanted to let everyone know that kitchen roll and wipes are not designed to break down like loo roll is, so please remember to bin them otherwise you could end up blocking your sewer pipes.”

He added: “On top of doing one of the most mucky jobs out there, our teams are getting asked why they’re out and about a lot at the moment, but we want to reassure everyone they are only doing work that is essential.

“If more and more sewers need unblocking, they need to be out more, so please be understanding, as no-one really wants to dig out poo, kitchen roll and wipes.

“But all of this can easily be avoided, so if you do need to use something other than toilet roll, just remember to pop it in the bin, and not the toilet. Thank you.”

If you do run into problems, either with slow drains or a blocked sewer, which is Severn Trent’s responsibility, it can be reported at stwater.co.uk or by calling 0800 783 4444.