Peppa Pig toys among unusual items flushed down toilet, water firm reveals

Characters from the hit children’s show Peppa Pig have been recovered from a water firm’s sewers after being flushed down the toilet.

Miniature toy versions of Mummy and Daddy Pig were found at Wessex Water’s water recycling centre in Weymouth, Dorset, by staff.

They also fished out other weird and wonderful items in the run-up to Christmas – including an Owlette figure from popular children’s show PJ Masks and a plastic spade that somehow made its way around the U-bend.

Wessex Water’s Sean Smith, whose team found Daddy Pig and friends, said: “These toys have had an incredible journey from the toilet to our treatment works, via a network of pumps and screens.

Some of the items recovered from a water firm’s sewers after being flushed down the toilet
Some of the items recovered from a water firm’s sewers after being flushed down the toilet

“We had to chuckle when we found them, although there is a serious message here that items flushed down the toilet can cause blockages and even sewage flooding inside people’s homes.

“We reckon Daddy Pig is a bit of an expert at only flushing the three Ps – (toilet) paper, poo and pee – to stay blockage free.”

Wessex Water clears around 13,000 blockages from public sewers in its network every year, with thousands more occurring in private drains.

The majority of these are caused by people wrongly flushing wet wipes and other plastic bathroom products or pouring leftover cooking fat and grease down the kitchen sink.

The combination of both can create monster fatbergs in sewers.

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