People in the holiday resort of Benidorm are being urged to not throw wet wipes down toilets after more than 300 tonnes had to be removed from the sewer system in just one year
A British tourist hotspot in Spain has had to remove more than 300 tonnes of wet wipes which have blocked toilet drains in a year.
The cost of fixing the problem in Benidorm, Spain has cost £332,562. It has been spent to repair pumping and treatment plants. The sun-drenched resort is home to 3,300 British expats and 832,000 holidaymakers from the UK head there every year. The astronomical figure was the amount of moist towelettes flushed down toilets in Benidorm last year.
This accounted for 90% of all solids intercepted in the wastewater. The situation caused a breakdown at the Severo Ochoa pumping station a few months ago. Workers spent several days unblocking pipes full of the unflushable wipes.
Jose Ramon Gonzalez, councillor for water cycle, stated: “Throwing wet wipes down toilets causes significant problems and breakdowns in the sewerage network. This comes with a high environmental and economic cost.”
To help cope with the influx, Benidorm City Council has joined forces with the water company Hidraqua to encourage residents to change their habits. The campaign is called ‘Stop Wipes from Being News’.
The authorities will promote the message via display screens and billboards in the tourist resort, as reported by What’s The Jam. Ciriaco Clemente, Hidraqua’s regional manager, said: “Treatment plants do their job in catching hygienic wipes during dry weather, albeit at a high cost.
“Unfortunately, during heavy rain, our protection system might not cope, with the wipes ending up being pumped into the sea and onto the coast.” He added: “The best way to solve the problem is citizen awareness and collaboration in something that affects us all, environmentally and economically.”
Meanwhile in the UK The Rivers Trust has told how 11 billion wet wipes are used in the UK each year and it said tha they “wreak havoc on the environment”. It stated: When disposed of incorrectly, they can cause blockages in sewers and end up in our precious rivers and seas.Wet wipes should be binned, not flushed down the toilet. They are designed to be strong, so do not break down easily. Once in our sewerage system they get caught in pipes and trap other waste, causing blockages in the system.