If you’re worrying about what to do with the turkey scraps after Christmas, think again – it could be the least of your worries.
It’s estimated that Britons will pour 15 million cups of roast turkey fat down the kitchen sink on Christmas Day alone, which will transform into a hard soapy material that will block drains and sewers. ‘Fatbergs’ are becoming a common phenomenon throughout the country.
One Water and Sewerage company, United Utilities, said 25 per cent more fat – about 500 tonnes – goes down drains in December, with engineers having to deal with an increase in sewer blockages, many caused by grease, fat, or oil solidifying in pipes.
Thames Water quotes a similar 500 tonnes figure, and estimates that 7000 of the 80000 yearly blockages are as result of grease fat and oil blockages.
It’s estimated that the cost of removing fat, oil and grease from sewer pipes adds up to £50m a year to household bills.
UKDN Waterflow’s Gary Webb commented ‘We’re advising all our household customers to pour their fat and oil into a container, and leave it to cool and solidify. Once solidified, they should scrape it out into a sealed bag and put in the bin.
Regrettably for those that do end up with an unwanted Christmas present in the form of a blocked drain the good news is that UKDN Waterflow are open throughout the holiday period”