By Cam Lee

Watch what you flush or pour to prevent sewer problems

Jan 15, 2019 | 4:00 PM

Be diligent about what you flush or pour down your sink.

This message comes as major cities across the world are reporting ‘fatbergs’, congealed masses of fat, grease, and items like baby wipes that shouldn’t be flushed.

A 64 metre fatberg was discovered in the sewers of Sidmouth, England, while one found beneath Whitechapel in East London in 2017 weighed as much as 11 double-decker buses.

While those are two extreme cases, Water Security Agency spokesperson Ron Podbielski told northeastNOW local sewer systems are affected by inappropriate items being flushed or sent down sinks.

“I don’t know if people have seen some of these images of people trying to work through some of these fatbergs in some of these massive sewer systems that are in your Parises, your Londons, and your New Yorks,” said Podbielski. “But they are a real visual reality of what can happen, and certainly no sewer system is different in that respect in that blockages can certainly happen if inappropriate material is flushed down the toilet.”

Wasted fish

Fish abandoned at Deschambault Lake

11h ago

Leadership Needed to Stop Federal Overreach

12h ago

Break-in suspect sought

Suspect sought after Nipawin break-in

Apr 22, 2024

Podbielski said fat and grease are only some of the culprits.

“You even have situations where people are putting kitty litter, or coffee grounds, or eggshells, or household fluids, or even pieces of paper towels down their sinks or toilets,” said Podbielski.

It’s not only the town or city sewer system that can become blocked over time.

“It certainly can result in sewer backups which of course if that’s ever happened to any homeowner they know that’s one of the more harrowing homeowning experiences you’re going to have,” said Podbielski. “These problems can be cumulative over time so you may not necessarily notice a blockage immediately but if you continue to do things over time in terms of having inappropriate materials going down your sewer system, that’s going to result in some challenges.”

Melfort’s Director of Works and Utilities agrees.

Gerald Gilmore told northeastNOW “sewer systems rely on product that break[s] down and decompose, when the product is submerged in water.”

He said items like sanitary hygiene products, flushable wipes, paper towel, rags, and all other associated durable products should be put in the garbage, and not flushed down a toilet.

Gilmore said grease “cools and congeals onto the walls of your plumbing or sewer connection line heading out to the street” when it is introduced into the sewer system.

Once the grease gets to the street, Gilmore said, it continues to congeal on the city’s pipes, causing blockages of the main sewer line.

“This in turn generally means that someone on your block will be impacted by a sewer back up,” said Gilmore, who added that any excess cooking grease should be drained into a container and placed in the garbage.

cam.lee@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @camlee1974