Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FATBERGS HIT POSH TOWNS
Luxury loo paper and wipes are sewer culprits
GIANT fatbergs are clogging up sewage systems in some of the country’s poshest locations.
The drain-blocking monsters are plaguing well-heeled areas where residents are flushing away durable luxury toilet paper and wet wipes.
A 210ft-long mass found last month in sewers below Sidmouth, Devon, will cost £130,000 to remove.
Chelsea, Cheltenham, Harrogate and Henley-on-thames have all had issues in the past three years.
Pre-moistened wet wipes and thicker quilted toilet paper take longer to break down, especially when they mix with cooking oil.
Andrew Roantree, director of waste water at South West Water, which manages Sidmouth’s sewers, said: “We’ve asked Exeter University to analyse the fatberg. We see them in deprived areas too. We want to work out how lifestyles cause them.
“Toilet papers should fall apart once they are in the water. When luxury toilet paper came out, it was obvious it would cause problems.”
Polyester baby wipes and “flushable” wipes are also being blamed.
US firm Kimberly-clark, which makes Andrex Washlets, reassures customers on its website: “Our Washlets are carefully designed to break up in moving water.”