Being Kind To Your Bum Can Block Your Drains - Drain Doctor Backs Warning From Water Companies

May 16, 2013 - PRLog -- Impregnated toilet papers, ‘wet wipes’ and similar innovations are leading to increasing numbers of blocked drains says Drain Doctor Plumbing (www.draindoctor.co.uk), the UK’s largest combined emergency plumbing and drain repair service.

Drain Doctor has spoken out in support of recent figures (http://www.thameswater.co.uk/media/press-releases/17076.htm) from Thames Water, the UK’s largest water company with 14 million customers. The company reports that 3,500 blockages a month in the London and Thames Valley area are caused by wet wipes at an annual cost of £12 million to clear up.

United Utilities, which has seven million customers across the North West of England, says (http://news.uk.msn.com/wipes-causing-hideous-blockages) (http://news.uk.msn.com/wipes-causing-hideous-blockages) that it spends £20 million a year tackling 53,000 blockages, many of which are caused by wipes being flushed,

The costs are not just being carried by water companies, however. If a blockage occurs in the sewer pipes on a domestic property it is usually the householder who must pay to sort the problem out.

Drain Doctor is receiving an increasing number of calls from householders who may have happy bottoms but are unable to flush their toilets.

The problem is particularly significant in towns and cities, such as London, with large areas of Victorian housing served by Victorian drains and sewers.

Robin Banks, operations manager for Drain Doctor, explained: “These new papers and wipes are not broken down by the flushing action in the same way as conventional toilet papers – they do not shear as easily. They therefore remain as whole sheets which can cause blockages if the flush does not clear them out of the drain and into the sewer.

“These blockages can cause sewerage to back up into customers’ homes and gardens. There is a particular problem in older houses because the Victorians over-engineered everything. They put in six inch diameter drains where four inch diameter would have been quite large enough.

“This was OK when used with Victorian toilets because they released larger quantities of water when they were flushed.

“Modern cisterns use much less water. This is not usually a problem because it is still enough to shear normal toilet paper and flush all the detritus through to the sewer. With some of these new wipes and papers, though, material is left in the pipes and gradually builds up to create a blockage.

“I guess it is good for our business because we are getting an increasing number of calls but it would save householders money and inconvenience if they gave more thought to what they are flushing down the toilet.”

Launched in the UK in 1993, Drain Doctor Plumbing quickly grew to become the country's largest combined emergency plumbing and drain repair service. It now provides a genuine 24 hour a day, 365 days a year service across the country with each franchise run as an independent business.

Drain Doctor Plumbing - 0800 3357 999.