A fatberg is a large congealed lump of unflushable materials such as disposable wipes, nappies, cooking fats and personal hygiene products, and are usually found in our sewer systems. Each day more and more wrong items are getting thrown into our sewer systems and these fatbergs are growing daily.

These fatbergs are capable of breaking our sewer systems as they were not made to cope with the items that end up in our sewers, they were only designed for toilet paper, human waste and water. If our sewers end up completely blocked then unfortunately the waste only has one way to go….which is back where it came from!

In September 2017 a fatberg weighing 130 tonnes and the length of two Wembley stadium pitches was found in London’s Whitechapel. This attracted a large amount of attention from the media who reported that it took engineers two months to break down the fatberg. Two pieces of this fatberg were removed in October 2017 and after several weeks of drying, displayed at the Museum of London from February 2018 – July 2018 as part of the museum’s City Now City Future season.

So what can we do? We all know that wet wipes are harder to break down unlike toilet paper and they get caught up with all of the other unflushable items, fats, grease and get stuck! The solution is simple. Bin it! The same goes for sanitary towels, nappies, cotton buds, oils and fats. Rather than putting them down the drains, dispose of them in the bin. Many people are unsure of the correct way to dispose of their cooking oil. The first important thing to know is so not pour the oil down the sink, even if you flush soapy hot water down afterwards the oil, once cools, solidifies an blocks the drain pipes and sewers. What you can do is let the oil cool down so it can be transferred into a container before throwing away or put it in the freezer so it can easily be thrown in the bin.

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