Say goodbye to Wet Wipe Island
The removal of the Wet Wipe Island near Barnes began with mechanical excavation, using an eight-tonne digger from St Paul’s School’s foreshore access, as part of a month-long operation by the Port of London Authority, Thames Water, and Thames21. The mound – about 180 tonnes of congealed wet wipes – covered roughly two tennis courts, rose a metre high, and had built up over several years along a 250-metre stretch of the tidal Thames. It blocked water flow, altered the river’s course, and damaged aquatic habitats. Waste is being loaded into skips for safe disposal, marking the first clean-up of its kind on the river.