London’s infamous ‘Wet Wipe Island’ finally cleared of 5 million wipes
Finally, about 5 million wet wipes were removed from the famous “Wet Wipe Island” on Thames.
The three -week project was the country’s first mass wet deletion project of the country’s towel, scarf, trousers, motor timing strap and even a number of fake teeth.
In collaboration with the London Port Authority, Thames Water and Thames21, it produced approximately 114 tons of waste on the banks of the river near the Hammersmith Bridge.
Wet handkerchiefs and other biologically disintegration elements are harmful to the environment, because they can pollute rivers, damage the wildlife and leave an ugly chaos.
To relieve harmful wastes, workers used an effective “rake and shaking” method. This included two eight tons of excavators, eliminated from the island to minimize the environmental impact, separating wet handkerchiefs and wastes from the natural sediment and river bed.
In total, approximately 200 cubic meters of wet wipes containing plastic were taken in 15 jumps and were responsible.
The island, which was the size of about two tennis courts and up to 1 m a height of the places, changed the course of the river and damaged the vigorous wildlife and ecology in the region.
Grace Rawnsley, Director of Sustainability of London Port Authority, said, “From time to time it is quite disgusting, it’s good to help clean the river,” he said.
“The reaction of local communities – and the country and the people beyond – was really encouraging, but at the same time it was a little amazing that this work was necessary in the first place,” he added.
John Sullivan from Thames Water explained: “This ‘island’ was a direct result of people who wash the wet wipes containing plastic, and shows the damage caused by putting the wrong things in your toilet.
“A wet wiping and washing other items that cannot be disintegrated biologically does not disappear in a magically way. Clogs caused by handkerchiefs are the leading cause of pollution, and every year we remove the estimated 3.8 billion handkerchief from our network.”
He welcomed the government’s proposed ban for wet wipes containing plastic, and hopes that it would prevent a wet wiper land from being re -formation.
Organizations such as Thames21 also want manufacturers’ seriousness about alternatives to wet wipes ”and water companies to increase their investments in the scanning of plastics entering the environment.
Every year, it cleans 3.8 billion handkerchiefs from Thames Water network, which costs 18 million pounds a year.
Thames Water announced more recently 1.8 billion £ Investment to improve river health in London and connected £ 4.6 billion last year Thames Tideway Tunnel To support the reduction of sewage discharges to Tidal Thames by 95 percent.
