Anglian Water reveals Colchester's flushing problems

Colcestrians flush 200 tonnes of “unflushables” per year, the equivalent weight of two blue whales, according to Anglian Water.

The mountain of waste, which mostly consists of wet wipes, face masks, nappies, sanitary items and cotton buds, has been filtered out by the company’s water recycling centres over the past year.

The water supplier has now ramped up an Unblocktober campaign which is pushing to improve the health of the country’s drains, sewers, watercourses and sea.

Blockage - fats in a sewer Picture: Anglian Water (Image: Anglian Water)

The company clears more than 40,000 blockages every single year, caused by wrongly flushed items, as well as a buildup of fats oils and greases.

It equates to one blockage every five minutes - of which 80 per cent are deemed avoidable.

“Most of these blockages are entirely preventable but instead lead to devastating sewage spills, can harm the environment and cost millions of pounds each year to clear,” said Regan Harris, of Anglian Water.

“The message is simple – bin it, don’t flush it. Only the three P’s go down the toilet – that’s pee, poo and [toilet] paper.”