Next time you’re tempted to pour leftover cooking oil down the sink, think again. A team of British sewer flushers is up against what they describe as “solid wall of fat” under London’s Leicester square, the result of years of careless flushing by the city’s inhabitants. An article posted on the web this week at http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20100714-major-fat-cleanup-operation-london-sewers-fatbergs shows the difficulties encountered when maintaining gravity sewers. The velocity of 3-5 metres per second in a vacuum system enables grease and fats to enter the sewerage system, mixing with water and breaking down during its transport to the treatment plant. Thames Water, the company responsible for London sewers, estimates that over 1,000 tonnes of fat and waste are being removed from under Leicester …
Read More →