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Severn Trent Water face £5m bill after people flush wipes down toilet

Severn Trent Water is facing bills of £5 million every year – because people are flushing wipes down the toilet.

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The firm has been called to 30,000 blockages in the region, of which three quarters were caused by people 'misusing the sewer system'.

The problem is costing Severn Trent nearly £5m per year to clear the wipes from its network.

Now, bosses are urging residents to avoid flushing all types of wipes – face wipes, floor wipes and baby wipes – down the loo.

James Jesic, operations manager for Severn Trent, said: "Wipes are the biggest problem we're dealing with at the moment, and what's making the problem worse is that there are some wipes you can buy that are branded as 'flushable'.

"Now – they do indeed flush, in that they disappear out of your toilet, but the problem is that they don't break up or dissolve like toilet paper, and so they easily get stuck in drains and sewers and cause blockages. We don't think this is 'flushable'."

Every weekend, in every town, around three-and-a-half tons of wipes and other items that shouldn't be flushed are dragged out of sewers.

This is roughly the same weight as a Range Rover. And across the region, it's nearly 1,500 tons every month, and over 16,000 tons per year.

Mr Jesic added: "When wipes block pipes, it can lead to sewers overflowing and flooding of homes and gardens, which is one of the most horrible things that can happen.

"We don't want our customers to suffer in this way, as it's entirely preventable. The drains that take waste water away are only a few inches wide and are only meant to take water, toilet roll and human waste."

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