South West Water Reveals Unusual Objects Found in Sewers in 2025

A toy car, a dog bowl and even a traffic cone are among the strangest items discovered in the region’s sewers during inspections carried out in 2025.

The unusual finds were uncovered by teams from South West Water while carrying out routine sewer inspections across the South West. Other items included a trolley wheel, a hand brush, a football and a tyre, all found far from where anyone would expect them to end up.

Bizarre objects spotted underground

Many of the discoveries were identified using new AI assisted analysis of CCTV footage. While sewer operators are used to dealing with common causes of blockages such as wet wipes, fats, oils and greases, the variety of objects found in 2025 left teams questioning how they entered the network in the first place.

The items were spotted during routine inspections, with CCTV cameras lowered into pipes to record thousands of hours of footage beneath streets and roads.

How AI changed sewer inspections

During 2025, South West Water piloted advanced AI technology to improve how sewer inspections are carried out. Traditionally, footage recorded by CCTV cameras was manually reviewed by technicians and office staff to identify faults, structural issues and blockages.

The new AI systems were trained to automatically label objects and highlight anomalies in the footage. This reduced manual work and helped teams identify unusual finds and potential problems more quickly.

Training the technology involved processing tens of thousands of images from the sewer network, teaching the system what normal conditions look like and the many types of faults operators may encounter.

A serious warning behind the strange finds

While some of the discoveries may raise a smile, South West Water says the issue is a serious one.

Items that do not belong in the sewer can cause blockages, leading to wastewater backing up into homes and gardens, damage to infrastructure and pollution of local watercourses and seas. Blockages can also result in flooding on streets and roads, particularly during wet weather.

In the last year alone, around 7,000 avoidable blockages were cleared from the network, with teams working around the clock to keep sewers flowing.

Only flush the three Ps

Andy Pettifer, Wastewater Operations Manager at South West Water, said: “Finding a toy car or a football in a sewer might raise a few eyebrows, but it’s a serious issue that our teams are facing each year.

“Our sewers are designed for wastewater only, and anything else can cause blockages that affect homes, businesses, and the environment. So please, only flush the three P’s and if it’s not pee, poo or paper, please put it in the bin or dispose of your waste responsibility.”

South West Water is reminding everyone that with a little more care about what goes down toilets, sinks and drains, many of these blockages could be prevented altogether.