Wet wipes are reshaping the banks of the Thames to create a “Frankenstein foreshore” warn campaigners. New survey data published by volunteer group Thames21 found that in Barnes, West London, a ‘Great Wet Wipe Reef’ has swelled to 50 metres wide, 17 metres long and a metre high – almost a metre larger than a year ago. The Barnes foreshore now contains an average of 201 wet wipes per square metre, and three other sites along the Thames also boast a similar wet wipe density. Tideway, the firm building a ‘Super Sewer’ to cope with increasing sewage demand on the capital, said the mound at Barnes was growing year on year.
April 9, 2019