Massive pile of wipes nearly flooded Rugby homes with sewage

A disgusting pile of wipes and other items had to be fished out of a Rugby sewage pumping station before it led to waste flooding into people's homes. Severn Trent is now reminding people in Rugby to bin wipes and only flush what is calls the three Ps '“ pee, poo and paper '“ after a local sewage pumping station became almost completely clogged up.

The company found that the Avon Mill pumping station, which pushes waste water towards Rugby Sewage Treatment Works, had become overrun with wipes and sanitary items that should never have been flushed down the loo in the first place.

Malcolm Smith, from Severn Trent, said: “Wipes are one of the biggest problems we have to deal with, and, across the region, we’re removing 1,500 tonnes of them from the sewers every single month.

“The issue at Avon Mill was particularly bad and, after the equipment had been cleaned, there were enough wipes and sanitary items to fill a skip.

“When wipes block pipes, it can lead to sewers overflowing and flooding into homes and gardens, which is one of the most horrible things that can happen to you. We don’t want our customers to suffer in this way, and it’s entirely preventable.”

Malcolm added: “We need people in Rugby to help us by binning their wipes rather than flushing them down the toilet.

“Even if the wipes are branded as ‘flushable’ that doesn’t mean they’ll break down in the sewers, like toilet paper does.

“Blockages often affect your neighbours further down the street so what you do in your home could be causing big problems for friends and relatives living nearby.

“Our message is simple – please don’t flush wipes down the toilet, even when they say ‘flushable’, from our point of view they’re really not!”