News

Turkeys, roast potatoes and pigs-in-blankets could cause misery to thousands of people this festive season as Christmas cooks unwittingly pour fats, oils and greases down the sink and toilet, causing sewers to block and overflow. So this year, we're asking our customers to think about their neighbours and not give them a surprise present of overflowing sewers for Christmas.

Grant Mitchell, explains: “This time of year is a real headache for our sewer teams because lots of festive cooking means that a lot of extra fat, oil and grease ends up clogging up our sewers, jamming up pumps, and wreaking havoc at our sewage treatment works.  And on Christmas Day, our teams will be hard at work, cleaning out blocked sewers to stop our customers from having sewer flooding ruining the big event.

“It’s easy to assume that the warm grease and fat left over from your Christmas dinner would be ok to dump down the sink, as long as you wash it down with a lot of hot soapy water.  But the reality is that quite quickly the fat and grease will cool and solidify, build up and block the drain or sewer. Better to wipe out any greasy pans with some kitchen roll, and put it in the bin.  You can pour large amounts of left over cooking grease into a pot or jar with a lid, or into one of the free fat traps that we provide to our customers.”

“Having sewage flooding inside your home due to sewers being blocked is one of the most horrible things that can happen to you, and we don’t want our customers to suffer in this way, particularly at Christmas, as it’s entirely preventable. 

“And it’s not necessarily the people who put the wrong things down the sink and toilet that are affected.  The blockage can happen further down the street, so what you do in your home can end up being a horrible surprise Christmas present for your neighbours.”

If you do run into problems this Christmas, with either slow drains or a blocked sewer which is our responsibility you can report it here or tweet us @stwater.   Teams both in the call centre, and those out and about, work all day, every day, so even on Christmas Day they’ll be available to help out with any problems customers might have.

Grant added: “No-one wants to deal with a clogged sewer or drain, especially over the holiday season. So while you’re cleaning up from your Christmas roast, spare a thought for your drains and your neighbours.”