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United Kingdom: beware of “fatbergs” in the pipes
To avoid huge grease blockages blocking the sewers, Britons are being asked to throw away the waste from their holiday meals somewhere other than their sink or pipes. – (France 2)
To avoid huge grease blockages blocking the sewers, Britons are being asked to throw away the waste from their holiday meals somewhere other than their sink or pipes.
Between the decorations, the choice of gifts and the festive menu, it is an unexpected subject and certainly not the most appetizing, which invites itself into conversations. Before Christmas dinner, Britons are being asked to think about their sewers. Like every year, the companies in charge of wastewater ask the English to ask themselves a question: what will they do with the turkey cooking fat or the frying oil? “We put it in a container and throw it all in the trash, not the sink.”explains a man.
A fat monster
Because the little treats of Christmas are likely to turn into an underground nightmare. As it cools, the grease solidifies with other waste, creating rock-hard blocks that clog pipes. The biggest ones are nicknamed “fatbergs“, icebergs of grease. In 2017, a huge blockage weighing 130 tonnes and 250 meters long blocked the sewers in the east of London (England). It took nine weeks of work for sewer workers to overcome it .
