Wet wipes cause woman's Aberdare garden to flood with sewage

The mess covered Christine's entire garden

A woman is calling for people to stop flushing wet wipes and sanitary towels down the toilet after a sewer system blockage caused her garden to flood with raw sewage.

Christine, 73, from Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, said she was horrified to find the mess had covered her entire garden.

Welsh Water sent a team to the property to clear the blockage and clean it up.

The company warned that just one wet wipe was enough to cause a blockage.

The sewer blockage near Christine's home caused the manhole cover in her garden to overflow.

Welsh Water had to clean the main pathways to the house and the patio

"I was upset and angry and couldn't believe how much raw sewage had overflowed on to my property," she said.

"Amongst the sewage, I also saw wipes and sanitary towels."

It took around a week to restore her garden back to its former glory after contractors removed contaminated gravel and replaced it with new gravel.

Christine said her garden was her "pride and joy"

A fence that was damaged also needed to be cleaned and repainted.

"My garden is my pride and joy, and I spend a lot of time gardening and enjoying my space, especially during warmer days," Christine said.

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"When I realised that this flood had been caused by other people flushing things they shouldn't, I was angry and frustrated - I couldn't believe they thought this was ok to do," she added.

"To anyone who is still flushing wipes - stop!"

Contaminated gravel had to be replaced and the fence had to be repainted

Welsh Water is now trying to educate people in Wales about the issues that flushing the wrong things down the toilet can cause.

"We're urging all customers to only flush the three Ps down the toilet - pee, poo, and paper," said Ed Bennett, Head of Waste Water Networks at Welsh Water.

"Unfortunately, these types of situations are a daily occurrence for us at Welsh Water," he said.

"Our colleagues work around the clock removing blockages from our sewer systems that could easily be prevented if customers stop treating their loos as bins."

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