You may be used to flushing wet wipes down the toilet, but doing this can cause many problems for your drains.
A BBC investigation discovered that 75% of blocked drains are caused by people flushing wet wipes that aren’t safe to do so. We use wet wipes for a wide range of tasks, there are make up wipes, baby wipes, anti-bacteria wipes. All these types of wipes should be binned, not flushed. When flushed, wet wipes quickly join together with other debris, fat and grease which build up to create massive blockages called ‘fatbergs’. Fatbergs have been known to grow into giant masses, with one being found in December 2019 weighing about 30 tonnes in a London sewer.
When wet wipes are non-biodegradable and insoluble it means they don’t disintegrate in the water like toilet paper does, and instead start to clog up your pipes. The disposal of wet wipes down the toilet is not only bad for your drains but it is also starting to create an environmental emergency as they stick around in our environment for years. The wipes also contain tiny plastic fibres which are harmful to fish and other marine life as they can ingest these fibres and can have deadly consequences. Not only this but the animals that consume the fibres could then be entering the human food chain, so its really not good for anyone to be flushing away wet wipes.
Unfortunately many wet wipes advertise on their packaging that they are ‘flushable’ but this is deceiving because while they may flush down the toilet as normal they will cling to the walls of your pipes and attract other dirt and debris which eventually can cause one big mass in your drain.
Luckily the Water Research Centre has now opened a testing facility which will test all wet wipes that wish to advertise the ‘fine to flush’ certification. The facility will ensure that these wet wipes with the certification do in fact meet their criteria and pass the 9 tests which make them ‘fine to flush’.
If you do find you have problems with your drains then you don’t need to worry. Metro Rod Nottingham have a team of great engineers who are fully equipped to solve your drainage problem.
Metro Rod Nottingham & Derby offer services from dealing with blocked drains, drain repair, CCTV surveys and septic tank maintenance. We believe in simple things and make sure we follow them through; available 24/7, professional, value for money service during and after the job and peace of mind in the fact that all our engineers are highly trained, DBS checked and fully insured.
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