Sydneysiders cop a lashing over congealed filth piling into the city’s sewage system

The eastern suburbs are known for glitz, glamour and celebrity — but what it’s residents have been putting down their drains and flushing down their toilets leaves a lot to be desired. SEE THE PICS HERE.

Some of the items that the screens filter out of the effluent. Picture: John Appleyard

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Eastern suburbs residents are leaving a trail of unwanted filth and congealed masses of sewage piling out into Sydney’s oceans.

Each day Sydney Water is removing hauls of unwanted bathroom products and kitchen waste, combining into a gruesome recipe for anyone to stomach, out of the Bondi wastewater treatment plant.

The filth that is not captured is having a devastating impact on the environment, with Sydney Water claiming it has been an increasing problem in the eastern suburbs.

Operations maintenance co-ordinator Daniel Toole shows Peter Hadfield some of the items that the screens filter out of the effluent at the Bondi sewage treatment plant. Picture: John Appleyard

From Randwick to Watsons Bay, residents are still flushing wet wipes down the toilet and letting cooking oil and food scraps go down the kitchen sink.

But it is not a problem unique to the east, with Sydneysiders across the Harbour City copping the blame for the foul flow of filth.

“Pouring a small amount of cooking oil down the sink or flushing a couple of wet wipes down the toilet might seem inconsequential to each individual, but if the majority of Sydney’s five million people are doing the same it can lead to a huge problem,” Sydney Water senior marketing advisor Donna Lewis said.

Daniel Toole keeps an eye out beside one of the four primary sedimentation tanks. Picture: John Appleyard

Sydney Water is not the only one picking up the bill.

One Sydney woman’s wet wipe flushings recently saw her fork out $16,000 for a raft of plumbing works.

“The damage caused to their sewer pipes, Sydney Water’s wastewater infrastructure and to the environment are very much ‘out of sight, out of mind’,” Ms Lewis said.

“The cleanest and greenest place for household waste to end up is in the bin, not down the sink or toilet.

“Remember the three Ps; the only things that you should flush down your toilet are pee, poo and (toilet) paper.”