News

As we move into winter, Severn Trent is offering customers advice to help prevent blocked drains and prepare their homes for the colder weather.

From binning cooled cooking oil, fat and grease to lagging pipes and reporting leaks, Severn Trent is encouraging customers to make some small changes to help prevent a water meltdown this winter.   

Paul Louth, Network Response Lead at Severn Trent said: “Clogged drains and burst pipes should be the very last thing our customers need to be worrying about at the moment, which is why we’re encouraging everyone to take a few small steps to avoid any unnecessary issues. We know just how important water is, especially with more of us staying at home currently, and we want to reassure our customers that we’re here to help, but we would really appreciate their support too.

“It’s easy to assume that the warm grease and fat left over from your dinner would be ok to put down the sink, as long as you wash it down with a lot of hot soapy water. But the reality is that fats and greases cool and solidify quite quickly once in the pipes, often leading to a serious blockage which can be costly to fix and can cause a big mess, something nobody would want to experience, especially at Christmas. It’s much better to pour any leftover fat, oil, or grease into a container to cool before disposing of it in the bin.

Sewer blockages across the region are still around 40,000 per year, three quarters of which are caused by people putting the wrong things down their toilets and sinks.

Paul added: “At the same time, freezing temperatures can cause huge problems for water pipes. So before the winter weather hits us, we’re encouraging customers to prepare by lagging any household pipes that might be exposed to cold temperatures and covering any external taps. Lagging pipes is actually a really easy job to do and can potentially save homeowners thousands of pounds as bursts are not only devastating, but messy and expensive to fix.“While we encourage customers to look after their pipes, our teams are also working hard to prevent any leaks or bursts on our network. So if you do spot a leak while you’re out and about, please do let us know so we can get it fixed as soon as possible.”