Cork students shown impact flagrant flushing can have on the environment

Students from Coláiste Choilm in Ballincollig were given an opportunity to see the impact that flushing unsuitable items down the toilet can have on the environment.

The school was the latest stop-off for the ‘Think Before You Flush’ campaign, which highlights how flushed items can cause blockages in homes and sewers and pollution spills. These can impact water quality and the marine life that rely on our waterways for their habitat.

The public-awareness message is to flush only pee, poo and paper down the toilet. All other waste belongs in the bin.

A workshop attended by transition-year students at the Cork school during their ‘Green School, Green Day’ event highlighted how flushing wipes, cotton bud sticks and dental floss affects water networks and water quality.

Fatberg

Elaine Doyle, Clean Coasts development officer, met the students at Green Schools water ambassador training in Cork city last year. She was invited to their Green Day event to speak about the Think Before You Flush campaign, and to show off a hideous fatberg model.

Her presentation also included a ‘Think Before You Pour’ message, addressing the issue of pouring fats, oils, and greases (FOGs) from cooking down the kitchen sink. FOGs cool and harden as they travel along the wastewater network. When these FOGs combine with wipes and other sewage litter, such as hair and dental floss, fatbergs can form.

Blockages

Uisce Éireann clears thousands of blockages, including fatbergs, from the wastewater network every year.

Ms Doyle said: “The main messages left with the students were simple ones: Only flush the 3Ps down the toilet, put a bin in your bathroom and be careful what you pour down the kitchen sink. You are never too young or old to make a difference.”

Uisce Éireann’s head of wastewater operations, Nuala Woods, said they clear 10,000 blockages each year.

She said: “Every day, people flush thousands of sanitary items, such as wet wipes and cotton buds, down the toilet, instead of simply putting them in the bin. This causes blockages in our network, pumping stations and wastewater treatment plants and can lead to sewage overflows impacting some of our most beautiful coastal and river locations.”