Hair raising find in Bradford sewer for Yorkshire Water

Yorkshire Water is warning against disposing of unwanted items in sewers after a hair raising find in a Bradford sewer – two wigs.

The offending items were found to have blocked the sewer in Allerton, Bradford and caused sewage to escape the network into the gardens of nearby properties.

The wigs were discovered by Yorkshire Water’s customer field services team after they removed the blockage and returned the sewers flows back to normal. The team used six tanks of water to clear the difficult blockage

Lee Pinder, regional operations manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “Every day our teams find blockages in our network caused by unsuitable items being discarded into the network, but wigs are a new one for us.

“Unfortunately, there’s a serious side to blockages caused by unusual items and in this case a number the blockage caused sewage to escape the network and enter the gardens of nearby properties.

“It is important people consider the impact of using toilets and drains as bins and that they don’t discard of unwanted items in the sewer. All we want in the network is the three Ps – pee, poo and toilet paper – and wastewater from showers, baths, kitchen appliances and sinks as all other items don’t break down and will ultimately lead to blockages in the sewer or at our wastewater treatment works.”