NI Water is urging customers in the Coleraine area to bag and bin their bathroom rubbish after hundreds of wet wipes recently washed up at Christie Park.

It is not the first time this has happened, however NI Water and local Councillor William McCandless are appealing for it to be the last.

NI Water's Wastewater Network’s Area Manager, Brian Donaghy explained: "Out of sewer flooding at Christie Park is a long standing issue but NI Water can only solve part of the problem.

"The sewer is being considered for upgrade as part of NI Water's PC21 business plan, however the main problem here is the flushing of inappropriate items such as wipes and sanitary products.

"The solution is very simple, if those items are not flushed then they can’t end up in the environment so we are appealing to customers to please only flush the 3p's, pee, poo and toilet paper; everything else needs to go in the bin.

-- Advertisement --

"If we all make changes to our flushing habits, then incidents like this, and those where we see an overflowing manhole, can be avoided in the future.

"In the last ten years, we have spent over £1.5 billion investing in water and wastewater infrastructure, but no amount of investment will completely stop blocked pipes or these items polluting our environment if people continue to flush wipes (including flushable), sanitary items and cotton buds down the toilet."

Councillor William McCandless commented: "I wish to express my thanks to the staff from NI Water and Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council who had the unenviable task of the clean-up at Christie Park.

"The sewerage systems serving our town has suffered greatly from inappropriate use. The flushing of sanitary items, wipes, disposable nappies and cotton buds block the sewers causing out of sewer flooding. These incidents have a negative impact on the quality of our environment and are an eyesore for those using the park for leisure.

"NI Water have been doing what they can but we all now need to do our part. The power is in our hands; if we all stick to the '3 Ps' and think before flushing anything else we can avoid a reoccurrence of what we have seen here in Christie Park."