Mayo people urged to 'think before you flush'

Clean Coasts, Irish Water and the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) have collaborated to highlight the “Think Before You Flush” campaign on World Toilet Day as they unveil an installation of four toilets with a difference.

The toilets will be displayed in Heuston and Connolly stations in Dublin.

The collaboration marks the launch of the fourth year of the Think Before You Flush campaign and the installation will be showcased in public locations across Ireland in the coming months.

Students from NCAD Bureau+ worked on the toilets as part of a “Design for Debate” project.

Their brief was to bring the issues raised by the “Think Before You Flush” campaign to the public’s attention in a creative way.

Each toilet highlights a different element of the campaign, from the size and scale of the problem to the impact our flushing behaviour can have on the environment.

World Toilet Day is celebrated annually on November 19 and is about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis affecting millions.

In Ireland we are lucky to have a functional sanitation system but for many across the globe this is not the case. It is our responsibility to create and maintain good bathroom behaviour to keep our precious infrastructure running smoothly and to safeguard our environment.

Speaking about the size and scale of the problem associated with flushing the wrong things down the toilet, Anthony Skeffington Irish Water wastewater engineer said: ”Everyday people flush thousands of sanitary items such as wet wipes and cotton bud sticks down the toilet instead of simply putting them in the bin. This causes blockages in our network, pumping stations and wastewater treatment plants.

“These items can also end up on our beaches. We have removed more than 8,000 reported blockages from the sewer network so far this year, dealt with thousands of other blockages during planned work and we have also removed thousands of tonnes of ragging from wastewater treatment plants around the country.”