Sewermen (TV Prog)

Its not just chip shops. The problem is that most of us, unknowingly do put some fat down the drain, but there are other factors, nappies, wet wipes, even surplus concrete gets down to the sewers, making for a smelly toxic solid mass which builds up in places where flow is only intermittently high. A friend of mine went on a tour of the Brighton Sewers a few years ago, and was amazed by the stuff that gets down drains. Brian

Plus all the autumn leaves and other detritus that overflowss into the foul system after heavy rain.

This is why Southern water used a Tunnel Boring Machine to make a vast chamber that runs the length of Brighton Promenade to catch all this excess storm water and sewage after torrential rain. Then it can be pumped out and 'treated' before being pumped a mile or so out to sea off Peacehaven I think.

Charge all the immigrant rat infested dumps twice as much water charge.

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OK Cole plenty in Medway ....

I can remember the pipe that went into the sea off Bognor Regis. I had no idea what it was until one day when the tide was out, the smell and what came out of it put me off the beach forever. I'm sure its been stopped now, I'm talking 1960s. Brian

wet wipes that people continue to flush down the toilets. These can act as a binding agent for the fat.

The basic problem seems to be the usual one: stupidity.

Assuming that just because something can, physically, be flushed, it should be flushed - and that it is OK to do so.

Add in the commercial side, promoting wet wipe use all the time. And packaging that doesn't say "DO NOT FLUSH" in big ltters. And lack of product regulation that has allowed their sale to flourish without imposing any sort of degradability.

Next issue: disposable gloves being flushed. (Already seeing vast numbers alongside paths, outside supermarkets, etc.) These gloves have the extra advantage of potentially trapping air and semi-floating.

Unfortunately my house seems to to be one of two in the street where the wind funnels street rubbish into my front garden and car parking spot. I too have noticed that a rise is discarded disposable gloves being blown in from a total of zero over the previous 10+ years to 3 in the past 4 weeks. I do wish some of these anti-social people would stay at home rather than discarding their PPE in the streets.

The usual fix was to make the pipe a lot longer, so it didn't discharge on or near the beach.

Along with "treating" it. ie mash it up and coarsely filter the result so you don't get jobbies, condoms, etc bobing about...

Plus powerful UV light treatment now, I believe.

There are storm water outlets on Worthing beach between high and low tide marks, marked with big red upside down 'fire baskets'. Up on the promenade is a warning sign, advising people that after heavy rain, the beach quality in the vicinity of the outlets, might not be up to the usual standards.

Saniflos for all, and the problems are sorted: nothing unsuitable will make it to the sewers, much less the beach. After a suitable period for training, no one will put anything unsuitable down the pipe.

Thomas Prufer

Wot I said.

Picking dental floss off an impeller will learn'em.

Thomas Prufer