Sewer Abuse & Fatburgs

Sewer abuse is a big problem for water companies. It is also the hidden side of food waste.

Thames Valley has called on its customers to avoid 'sewer abuse' in a bid to limit the number of blockages it has to deal with. It advises people not to dispose of waste such as oil & fat into the sewage system. The disposable of fats down drains can lead to a build up of 'fatbergs', which block sewers and can in severe cases lead to sewage flooding. Sewer flooding of people's properties is a truly miserable experience.

The rise in popularity of domestic food macerators (sink waste disposals) are not helping the situation. Although macerators provide an easy and convenient means of disposing of food or sanitary waste into drains and sewers, water companies advise that this increases the risk of sewer blockages, sewer flooding, environmental pollution, odours and rodent infestations. There are also further associated risks to screening plants, the sewage treatment process, disposal of bio-solids and energy costs.

The main cause of problems are oils & fats, these can form build ups which then break off into ‘burgs’and cause a blockage further down the system.

Fat that will solidify as it cools, like pork, beef, lamb or chicken, can be reused for cooking, instead of oil. People pay good money for goose fat or dripping so put yours to good use. Alternatively, leave it to go cold and place it in your food recycling bin.

You can extend the use of vegetable oils by straining them after each use and avoiding contamination with salt which will cause them to degrade more quickly. If the oil does become rancid and unusable then you should be able to dispose of it at your local recycling centre where it can be turned into bio-diesel..

Out of site may be out of mind for a while but blocked sewers will eventually come back to haunt you. Avoid waste in the first place but if you do have to get rid of grease & fat do so responsibly.