Severn Trent urges customers to be careful what goes down the sink on ‘Stir up Sunday’

As families gear up for ‘Stir-up Sunday’ to get their Christmas puddings prepared for the holidays, Severn Trent is reminding culinary-minded customers to be mindful of what goes down the sink.

Christmas cooking and preparing for the holidays is a tradition for many households and will start this weekend with ‘Stir-up Sunday’ (November 24^th). 

Going ahead on the last Sunday before advent, it’s a custom when families gather to mix their Christmas puddings in readiness for the big day. 

As everyone has fun mixing all those delicious ingredients together, enjoying time with their loved ones and getting into the festive spirit, Severn Trent is reminding them to ‘be a binner, not a blocker’. 

Pudding mixes, ingredients, things like cake batter, as well as fats, oils and greases, can cause huge problems if they make their way into sewers, building up and creating nasty blockages and fatbergs, which can lead to flooding in customers’ homes. All of which can be easily avoided if everything was scraped in the bin. 

The water company knows winter can be a challenging time for its customers’, that’s why it’s encouraging people, along with their team of winter helpers, to ‘weather the winter together’. Providing helpful tips, to help protect their home from things like costly blockages and burst pipes, as well as support when it comes to bills.  

Talking about getting winter-ready, winter helper, Grant Mitchell, said: 

“We know this time of year sees families getting together and creating hearty, home-cooked meals or getting prepared for the festive season. 

“We all love the festive treats, I know I do, but that could also mean extra fats, oils and greases are being disposed of in incorrect ways. 

“By working together, we can reduce blockages that have a massive, and sometimes costly, impact on customers. That is why we are asking everyone to ‘be a binner, not a blocker’, scrape all leftover fats, oils, greases, ingredients or anything else that shouldn’t go down the sink into the bin.” 

Customers are being asked to work together with Severn Trent so that we can all ‘weather the winter together’, make sure homes are ready for the colder temperatures and keep the sewers blockage free. 

Severn Trent managed to clear a shocking 28,782 blockages last year alone which could’ve been avoided if incorrect items were not put down the toilet and sink. It has also successfully cleared 14 million litres of fats, oil and greases from sewers, saving customers unnecessary issues, which is the equivalent of SIX Olympic size swimming pools of FOG.    

Severn Trent is providing several top tips and advice to get homes ready and keep them protected throughout the winter:  

In the bathroom:  

• Check for and fix leaky loos, taps and showers – customers can let us know about any issues by sending a video using the Vyn platform here 

• Only flush the 3Ps - pee, poo and toilet paper and keep a bin in your bathroom for all unflushable items such as, sanitary towels, tampons, nappies and wipes  

In the kitchen:  

• Use kitchen roll to soak up grease from plates and pans before washing up    

• Collect used cooking oil, fat and grease into a container, jar or tin and put it in the bin once cool    

Further information on how to prepare your home for winter can be found here.