17 Ton Fat Blob Clogs British Sewer

Started by stromboli, August 08, 2013, 10:28:40 AM

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stromboli

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/ ... sewer.html

QuoteThe so-called "fatberg" that you see at the end (a term actually being used by the Thames Water utility company) weighs in at an estimated 15 tonnes, or slightly more than 16.5 American tons, and was found late last month by utility workers in the sewers of the London suburb of Kingston after residents reported no longer being able to flush their toilets. "Given we've got the biggest sewers and this is the biggest fatberg we've encountered, we reckon it has to be the biggest such berg in British history," said Gordon Hailwood, waste contracts supervisor for Thames Water, in what is by far my favorite statement I can ever remember discovering on the website of a water utility.

Apparently, and I'm willing to take the fatberg experts on their word on this, lumps of festering food fat mixed with wet wipes are a serious problem in London city sewers, although they normally don't get this big.

Think about this the next time you dispose of cooking or other oils down your sink. Wet wipes? Eeuuhhhh.

SGOS

The sewer system should control it's cholesterol intake.  Maybe they could flush huge quantities of that stuff you take for high cholesterol down the drains.

Youssuf Ramadan

I thought he was talking about Sir Nicholas Soames.....  :lol:

taikina

i so wish i'll get to use the saying "tip of the fatberg" some day

the_antithesis

*singing* You load sixteen tons/ and what do you get?