Home   News   Article

Scottish Water calls on Highland residents to avoid using unflushable items


By Federica Stefani

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!
Wet wipes can cause major issues when flushed down the toilet.
Wet wipes can cause major issues when flushed down the toilet.

Scottish Water is calling people in Scotland to avoid disposing of un-flushable items in the toilets to prevent sewers blockage and help protect the waste water network.

Scottish Water is reminding people to flush uniquely the "3 Ps" — pee, poo and (toilet) paper — as increases in the number of sewer chokes reported could place extra demand on response teams dispatched to unblock drains.

Unflushable alternatives to toilet paper which are not biodegradable are a major cause of sewer chokes resulting in flooding.

Peter Farrer, Scottish Water’s chief operating officer, said: “Alternative un-flushable items such as wet wipes, kitchen roll, cotton wool, tissues or other forms of paper can cause blockages in the pipes.

“Additional sewer chokes at this time of heightened concern around health could pose additional risk through internal flooding, as well as causing an obviously unpleasant disruption in the home.

“We would urge people to flush only pee, poo and toilet paper in order to reduce the risk of internal sewer flooding. Such blockages are preventable and by following the simple 3Ps guidance together we can ensure the network is fully effective.”

Currently Scottish Water responds to around 3000 sewer chokes every month, with around 1 billion litres of waste water treated every day in Scotland.

The waste water drain which goes from a house to the public sewer is usually only about 4 inches wide, which is around the diameter of a DVD, meaning it can easily become blocked by a build-up of non-flushable materials.

More information about what customers can do to keep the cycle running, what should not be flushed down toilets or poured down sinks and how they can save their drains, protect their homes, their neighbours’ homes and the local environment is available at www.scottishwater.co.uk/cycle.

* Click here to read more news.


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More