Don’t have the wet wipe monster coming to your door this Halloween

31 October 2024 14:19

Halloween is here and NI Water wants to remind everyone to take care with what they flush down the toilet and what they pour down the sink, as the last thing anyone wants is the wet wipe monster arriving at their door.

NI Water staff are always coming across very scary blockages which take time, effort and money to fix. This can all be avoided by disposing of fats, oils and grease (FOG) correctly and only flushing the 3 P’s, pee, poo and paper.

NI Water’s education officer Anna Killen explains: “The build up of baby wipes and sanitary products forming together into a ball of ‘rags’ which cause blockages and out of sewer flooding can give anyone a scary fright this Halloween.

“This is totally avoidable, the Wet Wipe Monster message is simple, ‘only flush the 3, paper, poo and pee. Overflowing manholes in the street or worse, an overflowing toilet in a home is not something anyone wants to deal with. There are more than 1,000 wastewater treatment works across Northern Ireland disposing of about 320 million litres of wastewater each day. The vast majority - 93% - of sewer blockages are caused by wet wipes. No amount of investment will completely stop blocked pipes if people continue to flush wipes and sanitary items the toilet.”

Ahead of Halloween, check out the bathroom checklist of ‘never flush’ items below:

• all wipes – never flush baby, personal cleansing, toilet and household cleaning
• sanitary items – never flush sanitary towels, tampons, liners, applicators and backing strips
• cotton wool, disposable nappies and nappy liners should never be flushed
• condoms, incontinence pads, colostomy bags, used bandages and contact lenses should never be flushed

Don’t give NI Water staff a scare this Halloween- only flush the 3 Ps, pee, poo and paper.

Visit www.niwater.com/bag-it-and-bin-it/ for further information about what not to flush.


Sewer leak caused by inappropriate items being flushed 

ENDS

For media enquiries please email press.office@niwater.com