Change of ‘tweetment’ needed for sewer blocking birds
Our blockage busting teams were in for a surprise when they took a 'beak' underneath a Kent garden manhole
Our feathered friends need all the help they can get – especially at this time of year
But one nature loving customer in Queenbourgh near Sheerness, Kent, almost got themselves into a peck of trouble by routinely spreading bird seed over a manhole in their garden.
While their feathered friends were enjoying their food, beneath their feet a living, growing blockage was building – threatening to cause a nasty and smelly surprise for the neighbourhood.
With 24,000 sewer level monitors spread across our 49,000km of wastewater pipes, our proactive maintenance team uses machine learning to detect when blockages are forming.
Strange results were coming from the monitor outside this customer’s house, with the level of wastewater in the pipe inexplicably rising and then falling in an unusual manner.
Proactive control manager Daniel McElhinney explained:
“The system learns how a sewer should behave, taking into account different times of day, when flows are at their highest or lowest, and the impact of rain.
"But if levels stay especially high or low for a long period of time regardless of these factors, the chances are that we have a blockage caused by the like of wet wipes, nappies and fat, oil or grease from cooking.
“This can cause a nasty fatberg – but our monitors were showing that at this address, something was different so a team was sent to investigate.”
What they found was something no one in the squad or our control room had experienced before.
Bird seed was falling into the chamber through the sides of the manhole, and in the perfectly fertilised, warm and dark conditions it was germinating and flourishing.
Without anything to put roots into, the plants were growing up, and slowing the flow of wastewater.
Daniel added:
“We find plenty of weird and wonderful things in sewers – from soft toys to mobile phones and even Christmas lights, but this was absolutely a new one on us.
“Usually when a sewer starts getting blocked we go around the neighbourhood giving our standard advice - only three Ps should go down the loo in pee, poo and paper, and cooking fat should go in the bin.
“But this time the message is to please be careful where you feed the birds in your garden! A manhole is not a bird table - and using it this way could cause wastewater to backup into people's homes and gardens."