Vale of Clwyd MP Dr James Davies is backing a campaign by Water UK and the Marine Conservation Society, which highlights the problem of wet wipes in sewers and encourages people to help tackle the issue by disposing of them in the bin instead.
The ‘Bin The Wipe’ campaign was recently launched and is the biggest ever campaign of its type in the UK.
Wet wipes cause 300,000 sewer blockages annually, costing the country £100 million, and over 90% of the matter in sewer blockages is wet wipes and other ‘un-flushables’.
James recently attended a meeting with Welsh Water at Rhyl's Marine Lake wastewater pumping station where he further heard of the problems wet wipes and other un-flushable products cause and learned more about a £1.4m investment to upgrade the pumping station. He has since met Welsh Water at Parliament to discuss further.
James said:
"Around 90% of wet wipes currently contain some sort of plastic. This means that, unlike toilet paper, they don't break down in our sewers. Instead they build up, usually congealing with fats, oils and grease to create fatbergs, reducing sewer capacity, and increasing the risk of pollution from sewer bursts or spills from storm overflows. The Government is expected to consult shortly on banning the use of plastic in wet wipes, which will help, but even plastic-free wipes should never be flushed down the toilet.
"Work that will continue into next year at the Marine Lake pumping station will include new screeens to replace the current ones which have come to the end of their operational life. The new screens will help remove more rags, objects and debris from the wastewater network, which will help increase capacity in the system.
"However, Welsh Water are calling on their customers to help keep the system clear by not flushing down the toilet anything that they should not, such as wipes, sanitary items, cotton buds and nappies. As they have said, helping them to stop the block means that we can all help protect the environment."
James added:
"The 'Bin the Wipe' campaign is not telling everyone to stop using wipes, it is just asking for people to put them in bin when they have finished with them, and not down the toilet.
"I encourage everyone reading this to pass the message on to their family and friends."
The work at the Marine Lake has been taking place in recent weeks and is expected to continue next spring. Welsh Water will be contacting nearby residents and stakeholders to provide them with further information.
James said:
"This major investment by Welsh Water is very welcome and will provide people with a wastewater system that they can have greater trust in and which will better protects the local environment."
The work will not affect wastewater services to customers. Residents can find more information and updates about the work on the Welsh Water website dwrcymru.com/InYourArea.
The work is being carried out by contractors Morgan Sindall on behalf of Welsh Water. The scheme forms part of the £1.8 billion investment being made by Welsh Water between 2020 and 2025 to improve services to customers and protect the environment.
For more information about helping Welsh Water to Stop the Block and protect the environment please go to dwrcymru.com/StopTheBlock.
For more information about storm sewage discharges in the locality and nationally, please visit www.jamesdavies.org.uk/campaigns/storm-sewage-discharges.
