A day of united working saw staff from Southern Water and Eastbourne Borough Council join forces to help educate customers in Eastbourne about the build-up of fat, oil, grease and unflushables in the sewers beneath their feet.

There are blockage ‘hotspots’ all over the Southern Water region, but this is the first time that Southern Water has worked collaboratively with a Council to hold a ‘Day of Action’. It is the latest venture in Southern Water’s £1.4million, five-year investment programme to help customers understand the problems that fat, oil, grease and unflushables cause along our 39,000KM of sewers.

The day of action was co-ordinated by Steve Williams, one of Southern Water’s Network Protection Enforcement Officers, along with Eastbourne Borough Council.

Speaking the day after the event, Steve Williams said:

“Sewer flooding can be a really upsetting experience for our customers, so we want to raise awareness of what we should and shouldn’t be putting down our sinks and toilets – like wipes, sanitary items and nappies - in order to keep drains and sewers flowing clear.

“When we started talking to Eastbourne Borough Council about the issue, they were really keen to work with us to hold a ‘Day of Action’ in the town centre. After all, Eastbourne and the surrounding area flushed 197 tonnes of unflushable items in a year: that’s more than 14 double decker buses.”

“Lifting manhole covers in the middle of Eastbourne provided not only a great talking point, but also helped our customers to understand the kind of issues we’re dealing with, and see the problems that could cause their homes, gardens and businesses to flood.”

The water company has also undertaken visits to 27 food establishments and 104 local residences and the jet-cleaning of the sewers in the local area.

The water company is now looking to work with other local councils across its region to introduce similar days in other hotspot areas.