Highland sewers choked with wipes and products, Scottish Water say
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The Highlands has one of the highest sewer “chokes” in Scotland, it has emerged.
The IV3 5 postcode is the second highest in Scotland for blockages in the entire country, according to Scottish Water.
Just last week teams from Scottish Water had to attend a huge clog of wipes and sanitary products which had backed up under the city streets.
Scottish Water said the IV3 5postcode had 138 chokes in 2021 with IV3 8 coming in seventh highest in Scotland last year with 104 blockages.
It comes after a Scottish Water sewer response team based in Inverness lifted the lid on what lies beneath the city’s streets as part of a BBC Radio Scotland programme.
‘The Reveal – What Lurks Beneath’, follows team leader Tammy Jones, network maintenance operative Cameron Maclennan and modern apprentice Haris Ryalls as they are called out to clear sewer chokes across the local area – with the Highlands having one of the highest number of blockages in 2021 in Scotland.
The programme comes as Scottish Water launches a major new campaign urging people to bin all wipes to help protect the environment and prevent sewer blockages
The Nature Calls campaign is also calling on the Scottish and UK governments to ban wipes made with plastic, which cause serious problems when they’re flushed down the toilet, blocking pipes and polluting waterways.
The Highland Council region had 2301 sewer chokes in 2021, the fourth highest in Scotland, while two Inverness postcodes were highlighted as particular hotspots for blockages. Around 80 percent of the blockages attended by Scottish Water contain wipes.
Ms Jones said:“It is always great to have the chance to help spread the message about what people can do to help us look after the sewer network and it is something we all feel quite passionately about as we are dealing every day with the effects of what people put down the toilet or the sink.”
