Our Lady Queen of Peace Primary School are NI Water's new "sewer detectives"

23 May 2025 14:54

Students at Our Lady Queen of Peace Primary School in Dunmurry recently became NI Water’s newest sewer detectives helping to get to the bottom of blocked sewers in the area. NI Water staff gave the children the knowledge to investigate and solve the riddles of clogged pipes and overflowing toilets to protect their school from yucky out of sewer flooding.

The NI Water wastewater and education teams highlighted the importance of only flushing the three Ps, paper, poo and pee, due to recent blockage issues at the school. This visit aimed to raise awareness about the significant problems caused by flushing inappropriate items down the toilet.

Daniel Toal, Customer Field Manager with NI Water, said: “NI Water frequently tackles the messy challenges of sewer flooding and blockages caused by baby wipes and sanitary items. By enlightening the children today, we hope they will embrace our golden rule of the 3p’s: only flush the three, paper, poo and pee! We trust they will take these habits home and become toilet heroes by spreading the message to friends and family.

“The children have had to witness the aftermath of an overflowing manhole on their school grounds.  This could easily be prevented from occurring again if everyone in the community works together and simply bins their bathroom rubbish rather than flushing it.  We know it is a problem coming from the wider residential area, people simply not realising that when they flush the wrong items, they will reappear at the local school!  By bringing in a toilet demonstration, we showed the students the serious problems caused by the main culprit – the innocent baby wipe.”

Sinn Fein councillor Siobhan McCallin said “It was great to join staff and pupils of Our Lady Queen of Peace for an educational event hosted by NI Water. Hopefully the children enjoyed the experience and will inform their families to flush only the three Ps and not to flush wipes to prevent further blockages resulting in the raw sewage coming up through the car park. Thanks to NI Water for swift action and providing this expert knowledge to the children.” 

During the event the children enjoyed NI Water’s interactive demonstrations and discussions and observed firsthand the common problems caused by flushing items other than pee, poo, and paper. They were shown how items such as wet wipes and other non-biodegradable materials can cause major blockages in the sewer system, leading to unpleasant and costly overflow incidents.

Further information on NI Water’s campaign is available online at www.niwater.com/bag-it-and-bin-it/

ENDS

• Check out the bathroom checklist of ‘never flush’ items below:
• -       all wipes (baby, personal cleansing, toilet and household cleaning) - even if the pack says ‘flushable’
• -       sanitary items (sanitary towels, tampons, liners, applicators and backing strips)
• -       cotton wool, disposable nappies and nappy liners
• -       Incontinence pads, colostomy bags, used bandages and contact lenses
• The NI Water campaign covers advice and information for domestic and non-domestic customers. Further information is available online at is available online at www.niwater.com/bag-it-and-bin-it/  and www.water.org.uk/bin-the-wipe

Media enquiries to the NI Water Press Office via email to press.office@niwater.com