“It’s not cool to flush a penguin!”

15th October 2018

New film launched to support Love Your Loo campaign

South West Water has recruited two young ambassadors in its crusade to encourage everyone to flush only the 3Ps – pee, paper and poo – down the loo.

Actors Maddie and Jude play sassy Sophie and her cheeky younger brother Walter in a 90-second video launched online today.

It’s the latest phase of the company’s award-winning Love Your Loo campaign, which launched in August 2015 to help reduce sewer blockages and flooding.

South West Water’s Becky Moran explained: “The short film is a memorable and eminently shareable way of spreading the 3Ps message to even more customers.

“Most people* claim only to flush the 3Ps down the loo. But some** admit to inappropriately flushing baby wipes, hygiene wipes, moist toilet tissue, cleaning wipes, cleansing pads and sanitary products. These products take much longer to break down than traditional toilet paper – even if they are labelled flushable or biodegradable – and can build up in pipes, causing blockages.

“This contributes to the 8,500 blocked sewers we deal with every year, which costs about £4.5million and adds to bills.

“Over the last three years, our dedicated Love Your Loo advisers have spoken to more than 26,000 customers in towns, cities and villages across Devon and Cornwall – and now they have been joined online by Sophie and Walter.

“Thanks to support from customers, the campaign has successfully helped reduce the number of sewer blockages and flooding across the region. We’re hoping that this film will help us reach even more people and continue to change bathroom behaviours.”

The Love Your Loo campaign is supported by the Environment Agency. Emma Baker, Deputy Director for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said: “The Love Your Loo campaign is a great example of how South West Water is trying to protect the environment. There’s lots of confusing messages out there about what can and can’t be flushed down the loo – please remember it should only be pee, paper and poo.”

See and share the video at southwestwater.co.uk/loveyourloo

Notes to editors

• Consumer research conducted by South West Water during 2014 showed that *77% of research respondents stated that they only flush pee, paper and poo, with only **23% admitting to flushing other items
• The Love Your Loo campaign won three Chartered Institute of Public Relations PRide Awards in November 2016 and earlier this year it won the Institute of Water National Innovation Award.