Flushed but not forgotten: South West Water shares its strangest sewer discoveries of 2025

Also among the discoveries were a trolley wheel that had clearly gone the wrong way, a hand brush which had taken an unexpected detour, a football that missed its goal, and even a tyre that made its way underground – a collection of bizarre finds that raised more than a few eyebrows.

Spotted during routine inspections by South West Water’s teams, with many highlighted using new AI-assisted analysis of CCTV footage, these unusual items left teams wondering how such an unusual mix of objects ended up making their way beneath our streets.

While operators are used to dealing with everyday culprits such as wet wipes, fats, oils and greases blocking the sewers, these discoveries were a little harder to explain!

Throughout 2025, South West Water piloted advanced AI technology to improve sewer inspections across its network, helping teams review footage more efficiently and flag unusual items more quickly.
Traditionally, teams use specialised CCTV cameras lowered into pipes to record thousands of hours of

footage, which technicians and office staff then manually reviewed to locate faults, structural issues, and blockages.

In 2025, this process was enhanced by AI systems trained to automatically label and highlight objects and anomalies in the footage, reducing manual effort and helping teams identify unusual finds and potential problems sooner.

Training the AI involves processing tens of thousands of images from the network. These images teach the system what typical sewer conditions look like, as well as the many variations of faults an operator might encounter.

A serious message

Behind these strange discoveries is a serious message.

Blockages caused by inappropriate items in the sewer can lead to wastewater backing up into homes and gardens, damage to infrastructure, and environmental pollution to local watercourses and seas. It can cause flooding in streets, roads, and other public spaces, especially during wet weather.

In the last year, South West Water has cleared around 7,000 avoidable blockages from its net-work, working 24 hours a day to keep our sewers flowing.

However, all of these blockages could be prevented with a little more care about what goes down the loo or sink and especially down the drains.

Andy Pettifer, Wastewater Operations Manager at South West Water, said: “Finding a toy car or a football in a sewer might raise a few eyebrows, but it’s a serious issue that our teams are facing each year.

“Our sewers are designed for wastewater only, and anything else can cause blockages that affect homes, businesses, and the environment. So please, only flush the three P’s and if it’s not pee, poo or paper, please put it in the bin or dispose of your waste responsibility.”