NI Water has confirmed that a sewer spill into a local watercourse last week was caused by a blockage of baby wipes, and fats, oil and grease in the sewer.

The company is appealing to the local community to bin their wipes and use their sewer system correctly and warning that the impact of misuse of the sewer is damage to the local environment, and in this case, the local watercourse.

An NI Water spokesperson commented:

"Staff were alerted to a sewage leak in the Killybracken Road area of Dungannon on Monday 15th September. Our team was dispatched immediately to investigate and clear the blockage. The blockage was removed at approximately 9pm on Monday 15th September. It was a complicated operation and required heavy duty machinery to be brought in to complete the job. A clean-up has since been carried out, with all sewage related debris removed from site.”

As a follow up, NI Water contractors completed a 1350m desilt of the network, equivalent to 15 football pitches in length, to reduce the risk of reoccurrence.

The water company said that such was the build-up of fats, oils and grease (FOG) in the network, this was deemed essential and will come “with significant cost.” A CCTV survey has also been planned to ensure there are no structure defects within the network.

According to NI Water, the sewer blockage was caused by items that had been inappropriately flushed into the wastewater system The utility are emphasising that awastewater drain (sewer) is only designed to take human waste and toilet paper and other waste can cause blockages leading to out-of-sewer flooding.

“No amount of investment in our sewers will stop out of sewer flooding if additional items are flushed down the toilet rather than put in a bin,” NI Water warned.