Eastbourne student reporter lifts the lid on what’s blocking town’s sewers

The 18-year-old, from Langney, went out with Southern Water’s Matt Collins to learn more about how Matt’s team is working to prevent fats, oils, grease and ‘unflushables’ such as wet wipes from blocking pipes beneath the town. 

The group visited Northbourne Road, where Matt and his team have dealt with more than 20 blockages in the past three years. They tackled a further block discovered when they lifted a manhole when visiting with Charli. 

Charlotte is among the teenagers taking part in Eastbourne Youth Radio Week (Nov 13 – 15), which Southern Water is sponsoring. The annual event sees students from local schools and other organisations present over 50 hours of programmes on-air from studios at East Sussex College.  She interviewed Matt about his work for a segment due to be broadcast at 6pm on Thursday (November 14).  

Charlotte, who hopes to work in print journalism eventually, says: “As a student journalist I’ve covered all sorts of stories, but this was the first time I’d had a look into the sewers beneath our feet. It was interesting to learn how we can prevent blockages by changing some of our habits.” 

Matt told her how they’ve found everything from false teeth to cuddly toys that have ended up in sewers after being flushed down people’s toilets. More commonly, it’s cooking oil, wet wipes and sanitary items that lead to blockages, and Matt’s team work closely with customers to raise awareness of the problems caused by flushing the wrong items and help cut preventable blockages.  

Matt says: “The only things that should be flushed down the toilet are the three Ps – pee, poo and paper. For everything else - bag it and bin it.”