It comes weeks after the Port of London Authority, local environment group Thames21 and Thames Water collaborated to remove a bank of wet wipes that had settled and congealed into sludge on a curve of the River Thames by Hammersmith Bridge in west London.
The utility company continues to call on members of the public to avoid flushing wet wipes and waste other than toilet paper.
Wet wipes are often the cause of blockages across Thames Water’s sewer network, with the company saying it clears 75,000 blockages a year, often caused by wipes, and removes some 3.8 million annually in operations that cost £18m.
So far this year, Thames Water said it has cleared 28,899 rag blockages, which were primarily made up of wet wipes, 14,810 fat, oil and grease blockages and 686 third party blockages, made up of concrete and other sewer-blocking materials.