LET'S STOP THE BLOCK


Freddie has kind of passed the stage of exploring and is now at the stage where he will be up to mischief on a daily basis. Doing things, he isn't supposed to be doing, and he knows it. It's quite stressful at times and quite funny at other times, but not so amusing when I've got to pick things up from the toilet pan that he has thrown in there. Many times he has thrown a full toilet roll, cardboard roll, pens, toothbrushes and so much more down the toilet where my partner or I have had to pick them out.

Years ago I would flush whatever I wanted down the toilet, I'm sure many others are guilty of this too. The damage, in the long run, isn't something many of us think about. A few months down the line after moving in with my partner, I learnt that it was bad to flush wet wipes down the toilet, or flushing anything else other than toilet roll. There have been many times that our drains have been blocked because of too many wet wipes being flushed and eventually blocked our drains. Luckily, my partner is a plumber and was able to sort it out. 



I am currently helping raise awareness of Dwr Cymru Welsh Water’s campaign Let's Stop the Block. After learning new things, I think it's so important to make sure that you don't flush just anything down the loo. As easy as it can be to do it, the best thing to do is to just put it in the bin. I've gathered up some tips that may be helpful for some people;

Throw it in the bin - not the toilet!
Many items that get flushed down the toilet are; cotton buds, nappies, wet wipes, sanitary towels and so much more. There is really no need to flush neither of these items down the toilet. Adding a bin basket in your bathroom may help stop you putting them down the toilet.

Why can't we flush these items?
In the long run, it will cause some serious problems such as flooding your home or even your neighbour's home. Not only that but it could also lead to environmental pollution and damage rivers and beaches.

Can I flush 'Flushable Wipes' down the toilet?
NO. Although the pack says flushable, they're still not good to flush and will still eventually lead to a drain blockage which then will eventually turn serious. 

Not just your toilet - the sink too
It's not just whatever you flush down your toilet that will cause damage, it's also your sink. Your sink drains can lead to blockage if you drain any fat, oils or food leftovers down the drain. 

How to prevent my sink drain from blocking
- Make sure there is no food leftover on the plates before washing the dishes
- Use a fat funnel, which is an easy way to keep water flowing freely
- Wipe any greasy dishes with a kitchen tissue first before washing in the sink






Remember to throw it in the bin - not to flush!
PS. Remember to keep things out of reach of children in your bathroom. Especially your toothbrushes! 

* This is a collaborative post with Dwr Cymru



32 comments

  1. I didn’t realise people flushed things like wipes and nappies down the bin!!!! Some great times for keeping the kitchen sink unblocked though, thank you! X

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  2. We've got a new build house and our builder warned us that nothing other than toilet paper can go down the loo - the pipes they put in just can't take it like older systems and sewers might have (albeit for a short while). We've still had problems. This is such a good campaign for getting the message across. Love your pictures :)

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  3. Having had to pay for a plumber after buying a house where sanitary towels were flushed we only ever flush loo roll!

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  4. Omg, the pictures are hilarious! I don't know what I would do to see my children do that haha ��

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  5. I had no idea for such a long time that some things weren't flushable - mainly face wipes and toilet wipes!! I am so much more aware now x

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  6. HAHAH these photos are hilarious! I totally relate to this though as we are always having issues with our drains due to our shared sewer system being blocked by next door! Grrr!

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  7. This is a really informative post, I have to admit we only put loo roll down the toilet, in our last flat the drain was forever getting blocked by wedges of wipes (not from us) so we didn't want to contribute and as such tried to be as good as possible.

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  8. We had a blocked drain outside a few years ago and discovered someone was flushing nappies down the toilet, we never did find the culprit

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  9. I never throw anything other than toilet paper down the loo as I can't imagine how blocked the pipes would get if I did x

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  10. All that loo roll made me laugh. My toddler son does the same thing sometimes.

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  11. We are pretty good with this in my house except my mum who is forever taking the drainer out of the sink so she doesn’t have to pick it out full of food and we are always telling her off for it.

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  12. I love those photos - so funny. I am constantly monitoring toilet roll usage in our house and the kids are getting better but in the old days there would be half a roll gone per visit.

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  13. This is what I taught my kids when they were just tods that only toilet paper goes in there and I am proud to say they learned well. Glad to hear of this campaign you are part of

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  14. Oh what great pictures! I'm pretty aware of what I can and cannot put down the loo, but it's a great reminder even for me!

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  15. Still loving this post and actually it spurred me on to remove all wipes from our bathroom for fear someone may flush them!

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  16. Where I live in France we have a septic tank and French plumbing has particularly narrow pipes so we know nothing other than toilet paper and human waste can go down there ... and even super thick toilet paper is not ideal. Hopefully that fat down the London sewers will get people realising they cannot chuck everything and anything down the loo ... and marine/river wildlife will also be grateful!

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  17. Very important message! I always hear stories from my MIL about my husband putting everything down the toilet when he was a kid.

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  18. I did a post like this years ago! It really is important to not flush anything other than what's meant to down the toilet, my daughter always tries to flush her make up wipes and I'm constantly screaming 'Biiiiiin!' at her x

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  19. Our neighbours drain blocked once not long after we moved in and they had mess coming back up and out of the toilet! The water company blamed a house a few doors down who were clearly flushing wipes. That said, I didn't realise that flushable wipes weren't really flushable so I'll start not flushing those now. Thanks for the tips :)

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  20. It's crazy what people will through away - whether it's through lack of knowledge or laziness. I didn't realise flushable wipes weren't flushable either - though we don't ever use them anyway! xx

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  21. I've always been very good about not flushing stuff down the loo other than what I should - that said, my son seems to still be able to block our loo up with too much paper. I could be better about the kitchen sink though and probably should get better at dealing with grease.

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  22. I've always been v good with flushing. Generally horrified to find out what people do do though! Near us the road was closed for weeks because of sewer issues caused by things that shouldn't have been flushed! Am even more careful now!

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  23. I've never understood why people would try a flush nappies and pads down the toilet. I didn't realise about flushable wipes though tbh we dont really use them.

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  24. I had no idea that people flushed so many things down the toilet, I am always really careful about what I put down the toilet and stick to just paper x

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  25. The only thing I've ever flushed was toilet paper. Funny enough my friends husband posted a story of how she blocked the toilet by trying to flush a paper towel. When he told her you can't put that in the toilet, she replied, "it was only one." lol

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  26. Flushable wipes really annoy me, they shouldn’t be able to put it on the packaging. It’s best to put as little in the water pipes as possible and should be more public awareness

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  27. I couldn't stress this one enough. It's really important to teach the kids the proper way to deal with tissue and all that. Life is easier if you have a bin in the bathroom to begin with.

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  28. Such great pictures, what a great campaign! It's such an important thing to teach kids, and adults as well. Some adults need just as much education on this as the younger ones

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  29. It's amazing how quickly our sinks and loos can get blocked up! I am always mindful of disposing of cleansing wipes in bins, as I know the damage they can cause!

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  30. I've watched something on TV before about the horrors of things being flushed down the loo, all kinds of weird stuff. The mind boggles. We have a bathroom bin, and it isn't the nicest of things to empty, but all too important to have rather than flushing things that really shouldn't be going down the pan.

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  31. Angela Ricardo Bethea23 March 2018 at 01:38

    This is very informative and we need to be aware for this. This always the problem of my friend because his son always throw the tissue in there toilet.

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  32. This is super informative and something I'm sure all of us forget to think throughout the day!

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