Volunteers Wanted to Tackle Wet Wipe Island


Help protect the Thames by getting down and dirty by Hammersmith Bridge

Volunteers mark out clusters of wet wipes on the foreshore
Volunteers mark out clusters of wet wipes on the foreshore

Thames21, the charity dedicated to improving London’s waterways is inviting hardy volunteers to get down and dirty and count the wet wipes deposited by Hammersmith Bridge.

The disgusting deposit by the south side of the bridge has grown so large- up to the size of two tennis courts - that it has been dubbed Wet Wipe Island and it could now be changing the course of the river as well as polluting it.

Thames21 says, “ Every time it rains in London, the sewers overflow which means the wet wipes that people flush down the loo end up in the river. The problem is now so bad that hundreds of thousands are depositing on the riverbed.

“ To assess the scale of the problem, we are looking for volunteers to survey the wet wipes on the foreshore and record the final number.”

Those up to the challenge can join the Big Wet Wipe Count on 11 October from 9.45am till 1pm, on the south side of the bridge at the junction of Castlenau and Riverview Gardens.

Thames21 says children under 16 need to be supervised by an adult, adding that this event is not suitable for children under ten years old.

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September 23, 2022