March 7, 2019 5.13 pm This story is over 61 months old

Raw sewage floods garden due to wet wipes blockage

A horrendous sight
Raw sewage and wet wipes forced out of a manhole after a sewer was blocked in 2019. | Photo: Anglian Water

Raw sewage and flushed wet wipes caused mayhem for Anglian Water in Louth in what was described as “the worst case of sewage flooding in a residential garden”.

A homeowner in Louth found their garden flooded last week with raw sewage and wet wipes forced out of a manhole after the sewer was blocked.

It was blocked with wet wipes and other unflushables further down the pipe.

Photo: Anglian Water

Anglian Water said the blockage wasn’t the fault of the customer, but highlighted the issues wet wipes are causing to both water companies and the environment.

Daniel Paterson commented on Anglian Water’s social media post saying it was his property and he praised the company for its work.

He said: “Anglian Water have been great, they have taken it very seriously and put interventions into place to prevent it happening again. Hopefully social media posts like this will make people think just a little bit more.”

Photo: Anglian Water

Photo: Anglian Water

Anglian Water have since visited other properties in the area contacted to the same sewer to explain the importance of not flushing wipes. Anglian Water will continue to monitor the situation.

Matt Moore from Anglian Water’s Lincolnshire sewer team said: “This is the worst case of sewage flooding in a residential garden that I’ve ever seen.

Photo: Anglian Water

Photo: Anglian Water

“We got there as soon as we could after we were called by the resident and the state of the garden was horrendous.

“When we managed to get into the sewer we found it was blocked, mainly with wet wipes, and the sewage just didn’t have anywhere else to go.

Photo: Anglian Water

Photo: Anglian Water

“We’ve done everything we can to help the customer and get the garden cleaned up, but this is a stark warning to everyone that sewers should not be treated like bins. They are designed to take the three Ps – poo, pee and paper, and nothing else.”