A Derbyshire MP has met with Severn Trent to discuss the company’s commitment to river health and learn more about what happens when customers flush their loo.

John Whitby, MP for Derbyshire Dales visited Severn Trent’s Bakewell Sewage Treatment Works, receiving a tour of the treatment process and seeing some of the £400,000 that Severn Trent has invested in upgrading its sewer network in the area.

This package of works includes improvements to local sewer pipes to prevent infiltration – where groundwater finds its way into pipes, taking up capacity and creating pressure on the network – and the construction of two new 1,800m3 storm tanks on the site (each with capacity to hold 1.8m litres of water).

Alongside learning more about the works itself and Severn Trent’s efforts to reduce the use of combined storm overflows, John spoke to the team about topics including sewer misuse, which occurs when someone flushes anything other than toilet paper down the loo, or pours fats, cooking oils and grease down the sink.

John also saw some of the rag –– material such as wet wipes and sanitary products which have been flushed down the toilet – that can create blockages in the pipes, which is a major cause of sewer flooding.

John Whitby MP said: “It was great to meet with the team to better understand the real impacts that their investments are making, as well as learning more about the wastewater treatment process, which is genuinely fascinating.

“Hearing about the scale of the challenges that can be caused by people putting the wrong things down the drain was really eye-opening, particularly seeing all the material they have to pull out of the works.”

The visit follows confirmation by Ofwat in December of Severn Trent’s plans to invest £15bn to 2030, £980m of which will be spent in Derbyshire.

The tour was conducted by Severn Trent’s Waste Water Recyling Lead, David Thompson.

David said: “It was a real pleasure to meet John and we’re grateful that he took the time to come for this visit.

“I’m glad that we were able to show him some of the material that comes from our sewers, as sewer misuse can be a major cause of blockages which can lead to really unpleasant sewer flooding.

“The next five years will see us make our largest ever investment, with £2bn of our £15bn that’s been agreed by Ofwat to be spent on improving river health. We’re taking our responsibilities to our communities seriously and are absolutely committed to delivering the things that our customers feel are most important to them.”