Yorkshire Water said wrongly flushed wet wipes are causing sewage blockages and pollution across the region, as the company warned on Tuesday that only the three Ps should go down the toilet: paper, poo and pee. The warning came exactly one year before a ban on selling wet wipes made from plastic comes into force in England on May 19, 2026.

The company said the problem is not occasional. It manages 13,000 blockages a year on its public sewer network, and says most are caused by wet wipes. The message from the utility was blunt: plastic wet wipes should be banned, and other wipes should be labelled more responsibly because they do not break down quickly after being flushed.

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said that even when packaging describes wipes as flushable, they still belong in the bin. He said the products often contain plastic and can trigger blockages that damage the environment and send sewage backing up into properties. The company said that is why it keeps repeating the same advice: do not treat a toilet like a waste bin.

The scale of the problem goes beyond a blocked pipe. Wet wipes that enter the sewer system are one of the leading causes of fatbergs, the hardened masses that clog sewers and can lead to flooding in houses, gardens and businesses. Yorkshire Water said improper disposal also threatens wildlife by polluting rivers and seas with long-lasting plastic waste.

That leaves the new ban as only part of the answer. The law will stop plastic wet wipes being sold in England next May, but Yorkshire Water’s warning makes clear the habit that built the problem will not disappear on its own. The company says the fix starts at home, with one simple rule: only flush the three Ps.