Where does Sewer Litter go in its journey to the sea?
Down the toilet
The drain pipe from the house to the street has a diameter of only 100mm, the same diameter as a margarine tub.
The pipe from the toilet to the drain is only 80mm in diameter.
Some cultures, the British in particular, use the toilet as a "wet bin". Put it in "the bin" and just "Flush away your troubles". The sewerage system can't handle this. Sewage isn't just dumped into the river or sea, as used to happen in The Good Old Days. Sewer Litter has to be removed and trucked away.
"Sanitary products" and "condoms" are regularly flushed away. They are also regularly found on beaches and river banks. Two other categories which cause trouble are "disposable nappies" and "needles and syringes".
Through the sewer under the street
Local sewer pipes are usually only 150mm in diameter.
The sewers can be thought of as being like a beaver stream in North America. The FOG and Sewer Litter items are the mud and sticks of the beaver's dam. If there were no sticks, the beaver's dam wouldn't be strong and the mud would just wash away. If there was no mud then the pile of sticks would be easily washed away. And of course, if the beaver didn't have any mud or sticks there would be no dam at all.
It starts with a few Sewer Litter items sticking to FOG that has built up on the pipe wall. They stick out like branches. The branches collect more FOG, which then catches more Sewer Litter items,... and that's how it builds up.
It can form a strong dam, restricting the pipe down to a small tube, waiting for a nappy or plastic bag to come along and plug it. The blockage is often noticed only when backed up sewage spills out through a manhole, a gully trap or a toilet.
Sewage screen choked with cotton bud sticks, apparently removed for repair. Two or three mesh sections, centre-left, appear to be missing.
Captured at the treatment plant
Most Sewer Litter is caught in the screens at the Treatment Plant, bagged carefully, and trucked to the landfill. But they can't get it all.
Cotton bud sticks are notorious for floating through the sewage water end-first, like spears. They hit the filter screens end-on, which gives them the best chance for getting through. Backing strips from panty liners and plasters are really thin, and they can slip through, too.
Or off to the sea
Many sanitary items, particularly cotton bud sticks (CBS), are capable of passing through the Treatment Plant screens,
wash on down to the rivers, bays and seas, and end up either on the beach or in wildlife.
Both can get choked by them. Panty liners, backing strips and condoms get through too.
Now called Sewage Related Debris (SRD), or "Beach pollution", it is such a problem in the UK that there are organisations set up to fight against it.
See our We'll Meet Again (174k pdf) flyer for more information.
Next
For more information, go to the Life-cycle of Sewer Litter page.
For information on how to prevent Sewer Litter, go to the What to do right page.