The best place for the mobile?

Take a look at the attached photo. The story behind it is as follows:

I went out the back this morning to bring in some kindling wood for the stove when I came across my neighbour about to lift up the inspection lid of the sewer that his & mine house share. I must explain that on occasion the sewer gets clogged up- the houses were bombed by the Luftwaffe in 1940 & were rebuilt the best they could be considering the shortage of materials. Anyway, there he was..."is it blocked again?" I ask.
"No" he replies, & then tells me that whist on the toilet he dropped his mobile phone down the lavatory pan which he accidentally then flushed away! He'd dialled the number from the land line & heard it ringing from underneath the inspection lid-in the sewer!
I gave him a hand (as any decent neighbour would do) & low & behold there was the mobile phone in the sewer-as the photo shows.
As I hold aloft the inspection cover he reaches down when suddenly there's a rush of 'blue' water gushing down the channel to the right of the channel where the phone sits!! Some has flushed the toilet sending forth a torrent of disinfectant diluted piddle!! Grabbing a strategically place bit of timber, I  attempted to push the phone out of the line of fire of the excreta  that was heading relentlessly towards my neighbours Nokia.
"Its had it now, it'll never work after that lot gets into its innards" says I.
But....... After he fished the phone out of the sewer, gave it a wipe first with a kitchen towel, then with some antiseptic wipe gel I have around for such emergencies. I dialled his number......it worked!!
Wonderful. especially when you consider that all he payed for the phone was £16.