Horror items uncovered when people flush the wrong thing

There’s plenty of obvious things people shouldn’t be flushing but sewer workers are finding everything from fingers to live pets when hauling out ‘swamp monsters’.

From the depths of your toilet emerges the “swamp monster”.

TasWater shared this disgusting photo in an effort to get Tasmanians to think before they flush.

But the sewerage equipment covered in wet wipes isn’t even the worst of its problems — the organisation has reported finding live snakes, underwear, a finger, a doorstop and false teeth.

The organisation regularly posts its latest “horror” finds to Facebook, highlighting more than half a million dollars is spent in a year removed unwanted items from sewer networks.

The ‘swamp monster’ that emerged from the sewers in Tasmania. Picture: TasWater/Facebook

Tasmania isn’t the only state with problems — organisations across the country are being forced to clean up clogged networks full of strange items and the usual wet wipe culprits.

One Sydney woman reportedly had to fork out $16,000 for plumbers to remove wipes she thought were flushable from her pipes.

TasWater has also found dead pets, a money haul of $260, dirty photos, mobile phones and even an inflated soccer ball.

Plumbers say pipes can be backed up with 1m worth of blockages and you never know when they’re going to blow.

Related story: White King wet wipes fined $700k over ‘flushable’ claims

Someone had a bad Friday when they decided to flush these undies. Picture: TasWater/Facebook

One sewer treatment plant at East Devonport that’s emptied by TasWater weekly cost more than $100,000 in three months to clean.

“This waste can also contribute to blockages and damage within the sewer network,” it wrote on Facebook.

“Toilets are not trash cans. Remember the 3Ps — Pee, Poo and Paper.”

In its most recent post this month it showed a jet aerator from the Wynyard Sewerage Treatment Plant that had become entangled in almost a tonne of wet wipes and other rubbish.

“From a distance you could mistake this for a swamp monster,” it wrote.

“Workers on site had to remove this by hand.”

In December the equipment at the same plant stopped working when it was clogged with a sanitary items and wipes weighing about 800kg.

Plumbers find massive chunks blocking the system with unwanted rubbish. Picture: TasWater/Facebook

Workers regularly fish out underwear, with someone’s pair causing a pump blockage at Lewis Street in St Leonards.

“Undies belong in the bin, not in your toilet!,” TasWater warned residents.

In another “shocking image” they found the usual sanitary products along with plastic items and a doorstop.

For Tassie the message doesn’t seem to be getting through, with TasWater credited with finding a human finger back in 1983 that led to the arrest of Rory Jack Thompson who was later convicted of murdering his wife.

She had been cut into pieces and flushed down the toilet.

A monster fatberg found blocking a sewer in East London. Picture: Twitter/Thames Water

Sydney Water recently warned residents of the cost and danger of ‘fatbergs’ — congealed masses fats, oils and grease that form with things like wet wipes and paper towel.

“Over time it forms a really rock hard mass,” Peter Hadfield told WIN News Illawarra.

“There’s a problem with wet wipes — a number are branded flushable — but independent testing we’ve done, the ACCC and Choice prove they’re not flushable.

“We had a woman send us a Facebook post, she had a plumbing bill of $16,000 caused by herself because she was flushing what she thought was flushable wipes.”

Monster fatbergs up to 64m have been uncovered in places like the UK and US.

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