Current status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated annual cost to Scottish Water is of removing wet wipes and related blockages from the sewer network.
As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:
The annual cost of blockages related to wet wipes and other items is some £7.5 million. The number of total blockages in 2024 was 34,635. Notably, around 80% of these blockages are due to the wrong items being put into the sewer network, such as wet wipes, sanitary products, and fats, oils, and grease.