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"Fatberg" - Bus-sized lump of fat removed from London sewer

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R

Ripclawe

Banned
http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/bus-sized-lump-of-fat-removed-from-london-sewer

The UK's biggest-ever "fatberg" has been removed from a Surrey sewer.

The bus-sized blockage was discovered under London Road in Kingston, after local residents complained they were unable to flush their toilets.

Investigators discovered a vast mound of food fat mixed with hundreds of wet wipes.

The sewer had been reduced to just five per cent of its normal capacity.

Had the blockage not been removed, it could have caused sewage to burst out of manholes across the whole of Kingston.

Gordon Hailwood, waste contracts supervisor for Thames Water said: "While we've removed greater volumes of fat from under central London in the past, we've never seen a single, congealed lump of lard this big clogging our sewers before.

"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."

Repairs to the sewer are expected to take up the six weeks.

Mr Hailwood added a cautionary message: “Homes and businesses need to change their ways. When it comes to fat and wipes, please remember: 'Bin it - don't block it.'"
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http://www.nbcnews.com/science/fatberg-dead-ahead-slime-wet-naps-clog-london-sewer-6C10843060

An eight-member team used shovels and jets of water to dislodge the pulpy aggregation of cooking fat and flushed wet wipes, uncovered after Kingston, Surrey residents complained about unflushable toilets. Together, the wipes and grease formed "a congealed wet mash" the size of a bus that smelled like "the worst wet dog you can ever think of."

Thames Water spends about $1.5 million (£1 million) every month on removing odd objects from about 108,000 kilometers of underground ducts. But this "fatberg," nurtured by the delicate preferences of the wet wipers of Kingston, Surrey, was a record-breaker.
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6C8518281-fatberg.blocks_desktop_large.jpg
 
D

Drazgul

Member
" Repairs to the sewer are expected to take up the six weeks."

Heh, the poor bastards that have to work down there.
 
M

Madness

Member
I'm seeing it more and more, why are morons flushing baby wipes down the toilet? Those are unflushable. You're supposed to get the kind that break down easily, otherwise it's like flushing cloth down the toilet. If you have a septic tank, you're screwed over time and if you have a direct line to sewage it could either block up and flood your basement or you're going to screw over the city or sewer system like this article shows.
 
M

Mr.Wreckless

Banned
Madness said:
I'm seeing it more and more, why are morons flushing baby wipes down the toilet? Those are unflushable. You're supposed to get the kind that break down easily, otherwise it's like flushing cloth down the toilet. If you have a septic tank, you're screwed over time and if you have a direct line to sewage it could either block up and flood your basement or you're going to screw over the city or sewer system like this article shows.
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Now that I think about it, I don't know many people who don't flush them.
 
E

EnderWiggles

Member
OY I BET ITS THOSE FUCKING YANKS LUUUUL AMERICANS ARE SOOOO FAT

OFF I GO THEN, BETTER GET BACK TO EATING MY FISH AND CHIPS AND DEEP FRIED MARS BARS SO I CAN WASH IT DOWN WITH A LITRE OF COLA
 
S

Savitar

Member
I look at that picture and all I can think of is how a bunch of insects will suddenly burst out of it and dig into the skin of everyone that comes near devouring them whole.
 
S

Spring-Loaded

Member
Don't know why you guys are bothered by the america bashing. I would watch/listen to a station of just that every chance I got, if it existed.
 
X

XANDER CAGE

Member
Spring-Loaded said:
Don't know why you guys are bothered by the america bashing. I would watch/listen to a station of just that every chance I got, if it existed.
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It's not offensive, it's just at this point "America fat joke" is about as clever and unique as "pee pee doo doo george w. bush is a bad president" or "nickelback is bad music hahah did you notice that"

although I think I drove through Fatberg when I visited Indiana
 
M

Madness

Member
jaxword said:
There's two types of wet wipes. There are nonflushable AND flushable.

Were these the flushables?
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Obviously they weren't. The flushables are weaker and slightly more expensive. But they easily break apart with flushing and in water which is why they are safe for septic tanks and sewer systems.

The non flushable are almost cloth like and never break apart from water alone. And so they can catch on with fat, mold, any kind of material and just build up. The more you flush, and the more they stick until you have a clog, which will either back up your pipe and flood your yard, basement etc. Or be a nightmare for the city to remove/clean as shown in the OP. Uncle is a plumber, I only known this because he chastised a cousin who was flushing her infant baby's wipes down the toilet lol.
 
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