Britons are being advised not to pour grease down their sinks today to avoid clogging up the water system.
South West Water is looking to avoid a buildup of so-called fatbergs during the holiday season, often caused by people pouring stinky chicken broth from their carnival parties down the sink while it’s hot, clogging roads tubes as they cool. .
The company says a medium-sized turkey, which many of us will eat at some point today, can make up to three-quarters of a pint of fat, meaning if every house were covered with South West Water all dumped their fat down the sink, which would be the equivalent of 2,800 bathtubs full of water going into the sewers.
Water companies want to avoid scenes like this – from below Canary Wharf last year
“Don’t let the fat from your festive party ruin your Christmas by causing blockages and clumps of fat,” said Guy Doble, the company’s network and wastewater collection, treatment and network manager.
“Tens of thousands of liters of waste fat, cooking oil, and waste grease are dumped into storage tanks in the Southwest region every year along with food waste that can accumulate in pipes.
“These mix with improperly flushed items such as wet wipes, cleaning wipes, wipes, cleaning pads and cleaning products, causing drains to clog, which can lead to flooding in the home.” you and the environment.
“Every year, we deal with approximately 8,500 clogged drains in our area – about once an hour – and these can increase the risk of flooding and damage to our customers’ homes and properties. .
“So don’t let fat spoil this Christmas and do your part by flushing only the 3Ps – urine, paper and feces – down the toilet, and avoid spilling fat, oil and grease down the toilet. your sink.”
Last year, a fatberg “the weight of a log house” was removed from a London sewer below Canary Wharf, with the process taking more than two weeks.
A fatberg in Birmingham The ship, which is more than 1 km long and weighs 300 tons, was also dismantled – it took more than a month to clean up.
South West Water covers more than two million people across Devon and Cornwall and around 450 tonnes of non-flushable material is removed from its systems each year – including wet wipes, cleaning products and cotton pads.
