Scottish Water Supports Upstream Battle

“Over 80% of these blockages were due to inappropriate disposal of items such as wet wipes, sanitary towels, tampons, tampon applicators and condoms being flushed down the toilet.”

Bess Homer
Strategic Planner, Scottish Water

Continuing our support for Keep Scotland Beautiful’s campaign Upstream Battle which aims to reduce marine litter in the River Clyde we teamed up with Literati and the Beacon Arts Centre to hold an event targeting the three top litter challenges facing Inverclyde. 

Attendees including Clydeview Academy, Literato, MP’s, MSP’s councillors and members from the community came together to work collaboratively on the night and have committed to reducing litter at source, helping to change behaviors of the general public, and to educate and communicate effectively to all sectors in helping to reduce marine litter.  

Bess Homer, who attended the event and works in Environmental Regulation within Scottish Water said, "In Inverclyde there were 445 sewer blockages in the last year, and around 36,000 blockages within the public waste water network Scotland wide.

Over 80% of these blockages were due to inappropriate disposal of items such as wet wipes, sanitary towels, tampons, tampon applicators and condoms being flushed down the toilet. Many of these items contain plastic so will take hundreds of years to breakdown. These 36,000 blockages cost around £7 million to clear.

By only flushing the three P's - Pee, Poo and Toilet paper and reducing inappropriate disposal of litter which impacts on the waste water network we can reduce the number of sewer blockages and operational problems at Waste Water Treatment Works and thus help reduce environmental pollution on the River Clyde and beyond."

Scottish Water considers prevention through source control to be the best solution for plastics and microplastics, after all 80% of litter on land ends up in our marine environment. The event was a great example of the community coming together, helping clean up Inverclyde which will in turn protect our seas, and  leave a lasting legacy for future generations of Inverclyde.