CALL 08000 654 111Christmas and New Year can be times of excess. There’s a lot of food and drink to be consumed. This can be measured by the growth spurt in gym membership that happens in January and February. Unfortunately, it can also be measured by the state of the country’s drains.
Fighting the flab is something of a theme in the months immediately following the festive season, but fighting a different kind of fat may just be more important. Fatberg is the name given to a congealed lump of fat and other waste items found in sewer systems. Unlike toilet paper, fatbergs don’t break down, in fact they can keep growing.
In 2013 a fatberg the size of a bus was found in drains in Kingston upon Thames. The following year a mass the size of a jumbo jet had to be cleared from a section of sewer pipe in Shepherd’s Bush.
One cause of clogged drains and, ultimately, fatbergs, is the sheer amount of cooking fat, oil and grease that gets put down them. If you thought you had trouble digesting all that turkey, think of what your drains have to deal with. Yes, it’s all got to go somewhere, but sometimes it hangs around, having a party of its own in your drains.
The fats in the discarded cooking grease break down into their component parts and these combine with other elements in the sewers to create a dense compound. This is how fatbergs are made.
So what can you do about it? From a prevention perspective, simply don’t pour cooking oil and fat down the sink. If, however, the damage has been done and you think your drains are not working to their proper capacity, get them inspected.
A CCTV drain survey is a modern, cost-effective and efficient way to thoroughly inspect your drains and find out where there are any trouble areas. Once these have been pinpointed, we can work out the best way to clear your drains.
Act now and save yourself greater inconvenience from blocked drains later.