World Toilet Day – Celebrating the Best Seat in the House!

20 November 2023 16:18

Some of the fantastic Best Seat in the House designed by pupils at St Patrick’s PS, Loup, Magherafelt

World Toilet Day is celebrated on the 19 November each year to raise awareness of the nearly 1.7 billion people still living without a decent toilet of their own.

NI Water supports WaterAid to show that a toilet is not just a toilet; it’s a life-saver, dignity-protector and opportunity-maker. Everyone everywhere has the right to sanitation, but without this, diseases spread fast and people’s lives are put at risk.

It is also a timely reminder for us here in Northern Ireland to celebrate the humble loo and to make sure we ‘Bag it and Bin it; Don’t Flush it’.  Wipes, nappies and sanitary items flushed down the toilet cause blockages in our sewer systems resulting in out of sewer flooding and unfortunately these eyesores and pollutants can appear on our beaches impacting the environment.

To highlight the importance of toilets this World Toilet Day we joined WaterAid and Water Companies from across the UK to host a special World Toilet Day Live event for primary schools to reinforce the ‘Bag it and Bin it’ message and support WaterAid’s vision of a world where everyone, everywhere has access to safe water, decent sanitation and good hygiene. Pupils were encouraged to create their own loo seat artwork following in the footsteps of famous artists who have created toilet art as part of WaterAid’s ‘Best Seat in the House’ galloory campaign www.wateraid.org/uk/toilet-art

NI Water’s Head of Environmental Regulation, Angela Halpenny, explains: “It is essential that you take care of what you flush down the toilet. Only the three 3 Ps should be flushed – pee, poo and paper. Anything else should be bagged and binned because not only is it a health hazard but it can also harm our wildlife.

“The main enemy of sewers is the build-up of wet wipes and sanitary products. These form together into a ball of ‘rags’ causing blockages and out of sewer flooding.  We have all seen the awful effects of an overflowing manhole in the street or worse, an overflowing toilet in a home. Be part of the solution, not the problem – if it’s not the 3Ps, bag it and bin it.”

ENDS

NI Water’s Anna Killen participated in the ‘We are Water UK’ initiative which saw teams across the country alongside the charity WaterAid celebrate World Toilet Day (19^th November), promote the importance of toilets and explain how we all have a part to play in looking after our water environments. 

ENDS

For further information, please contact NI Water Press Office on email press.office@niwater.com