Canberrans are being challenged to help clean the city’s wastewater network through Icon Water’s new online game.
Launching the game on World Water Day on Tuesday (22 March), General Manager of Icon Water, Davina McCormick said the new Free the Poo game let players head down into Canberra’s wastewater network to destroy the wet wipes blocking the city’s pipes.
“The game will help increase players’ understanding of our wastewater network and the impacts on our systems and the community of flushing wet wipes and putting other unsuitable products down the toilet, drains or sinks,” Ms McCormick said.
“Sewer blockages are a significant issue costing money and time to fix, so we are looking to the Canberra community through this quirky and interactive campaign to help us protect our sewerage network from things that shouldn’t be there,” she said.
“We want them to care about what happens underground and only flush the 3Ps (pee, poo and toilet paper).”
Ms McCormick said this new interactive element of Icon’s Free the Poo campaign, launched last year, was an exciting opportunity to educate Canberrans on the effects of wipes on sewers and illustrate the work needed to clear them.
The General Manager said Canberra was recently ranked as one of the worst Australian cities regarding total sewer main breaks and chokes per 100 km of pipes.
She said more than 48,000 trees lined the streets of the bush capital and a significant number of blockages occurred when wet wipes and other nasties got caught or entangled with tree roots.
“Wipes also cause all kinds of issues at our wastewater treatment plants where they have to be manually removed,” Ms McCormick said.
She said the Free the Poo game could be played on Icon Water’s website or downloaded via the App Store or Google Play.
Icon’s new game can be accessed at this PS News link.
