Technology that helped win the diesel land speed record is being used to unblock drains in Brighouse and Huddersfield.
Yorkshire Water has unveiled a new ‘whirlwind’ air and water drain unblocker, which uses technology from the JCB Dieselmax, which holds the land speed record for a diesel powered car.
The equipment was unveiled at Yorkshire Water’s Calder Valley Incinerator at Cooper Bridge.
A fast-action drain unblocker, dubbed Whirlwind, is Yorkshire Water’s attempt to resolve the problems caused when Christmas cooks – wrongly – pour grease, oil and fats down the drain.
A high-pressured air and water jet blasts blockages along pipes to free up water flow.
Not only is it a first for Yorkshire Water – but it’s a first globally too.
Ross Housley, of Yorkshire Water, urged customers to think twice about what they pour down the drain this winter.
He said: “Reducing the number of blockages in our sewers is a massive job and we are asking our customers to do their bit by thinking carefully about what they are putting down their sinks and toilets.
“Over the next five years we’re investing £180 million to improve the quality of our sewer network, and when you have 20,000 miles of sewerage pipework to look after that takes away sewage from nearly two million homes, it’s no mean feat to keep things flowing.
“Our message is simple: anything other than human waste and loo roll has no business in our sewers and we’d ask people to do the right thing and make sure they dispose of their rubbish in the correct way, rather than risk blocking our sewers and potentially flooding their own homes with sewage.”
The water company has been working with Wrexham-based Whirlwind Utilities on the invention.
The company says winter is the worst time of year for sewers being blocked by items and liquids which should go in the bin.
In Yorkshire there were 22,000 blockages last year – nearly 6,000 of these over winter – which cost more than £8m to clear.
The Whirlwind reduces the water needed to clean a kilometre of 150mm pipe by 95%.
Yorkshire Water operates around 20,000 miles of sewerage network – enough to go around the earth nearly 1.5 times.
Between 2015 and 2020 it plans to invest �180m in improving the region’s sewage infrastructure.
