Officially, only the three P’s may be flushed down the toilet: poop, pee and (toilet) paper. But no matter how many campaigns want to draw attention to this, the message does not seem to get through. Grease and other waste are happily flushed through. The result: an enormous layer of fat clumps in our sewerage, capped with moist wipes, sanitary napkins and, until recently, even face masks. And over time, sewers and pump sumps become clogged, or even treatment plants get stuck. This costs capital, causes a lot of inconvenience and causes headaches for the municipalities. In Arnhem and Zoetermeer, among others, they are successfully tackling the problem with an organic product.
In 2021, a massive fatberg (a contraction of fat and iceberg) with the weight of a small bungalow clogged a London sewer. The colossus was a clump of grease, wet wipes and diapers flushed down the sewer. It took two weeks to remove it with pressure washers, hand tools and brute force. And it was by no means the first fatberg in London and the surrounding area. In October 2020, one the size of an elephant was tackled, in 2019 water company Thames Waters removed 140 tons of fatbergs that were spread over various sewers. The crown was taken The water company said in 2019 gt that it clears 750,000 blockages annually in London and the Thames Valley. Cost: about 18 million pounds. With their campaign ‘Bin in, don’t block it’ (throw it away, don’t block it), the company tries to make people aware of what can, and especially what cannot be flushed down the toilet.
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