Think the US is fat?

[irishScott]

Our sewers got nothing o the UK.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/5/4589874/bus-sized-fatberg-breaks-london-sewer

London water authority Thames Water has discovered what it calls the UK's largest "fatberg;" a mushy deposit of congealed fat and sanitary wipes. Found in a sewer in Kingston, South West London, the fatberg was roughly the size of a bus, and weighed 15 tons. "We've never seen a single, congealed lump of lard this big clogging our sewers before," says Gordon Hallwood, supervisor at Thames Water. The blockage was discovered after local residents reported being unable to flush their toilets.

The horrific deposit was so large that it's taken the sewer in question out of action. Before it was removed, it had reduced the sewer's capacity to just five percent of its regular level, and the damage it caused will take six weeks to repair. "If we hadn't discovered it in time, raw sewage could have started spurting out of manholes across the whole of Kingston."

 

[Geosurface]

There are times I wish mother nature could just rise up and destroy us.

 

[Jaskalas]

There are times I wish mother nature could just rise up and destroy us.

Why wish for inevitability? Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

 

[Ruptga]

There are times I wish mother nature could just rise up and destroy us.

There are times I wish people like you would practice what you preach. (all the times, actually)

 

[Scarpozzi]

Finding a sewer fatburg doesn't equate fat people. That's just fat that's been flushed down the sink. All it takes is a few places broiling pork or cooking it without smoke (very unamerican)... All those drippings would solidify in a mass somewhere if they were allowed to cool.

Americans are still pretty fat people.

 

[zephyrprime]

Finding a sewer fatburg doesn't equate fat people. That's just fat that's been flushed down the sink. All it takes is a few places broiling pork or cooking it without smoke (very unamerican)... All those drippings would solidify in a mass somewhere if they were allowed to cool.

Americans are still pretty fat people.

Yep. You are right. This is really due to garbage disposals. In the past, people would throw out grease and food in the trash which can't be clogged like a sewer line can. The sewers are all very old of course and were designed before the advent of garbage disposals.

 

[dank69]

Finding a sewer fatburg doesn't equate fat people. That's just fat that's been flushed down the sink. All it takes is a few places broiling pork or cooking it without smoke (very unamerican)... All those drippings would solidify in a mass somewhere if they were allowed to cool.

Americans are still pretty fat people.

Exactly. Americans eat the fat, they don't dump it down the drain.

 

[highland145]

Exactly. Americans eat the fat, they don't dump it down the drain.

Ugh and right before lunch too.D:

 

[Atomic Playboy]

On the plus side, it sounds like England is going to have some nice cheap fat to sell us in the immediate future. "Slightly used."

 

[Kaido]

I was wondering what happened to the rest of the Adipose...

 

[Geosurface]

There are times I wish people like you would practice what you preach. (all the times, actually)

What to you understand me to be "preaching" ?

 

[SunnyD]

"If we hadn't discovered it in time, raw sewage could have started spurting out of manholes across the whole of Kingston."

TWSS

 

[Jeff7]

Exactly. Americans eat the fat, they don't dump it down the drain.

And now the fat can come with the toilet paper built right in. What a time saver!

 

[Printer Bandit]

 

[TallBill]

Should have finished breakfast first.

 

[Jeff7]

Should have finished breakfast first.

Big gobs of scrambled eggs, and plenty of fatty butter on toast? Wash it down easily with some orange juice, unlike the clogged sewer drain?



So can something like this get measured in Courics?

 

[Eug]

 

[mmntech]

So where does this fat coming from? I'd assume it's dodgy restaurants flushing used cooking oil down the drain.

There are times I wish mother nature could just rise up and destroy us.

Help control the people population, have your human spayed or neutered.

 

[Eug]

So where does this fat coming from? I'd assume it's dodgy restaurants flushing used cooking oil down the drain.

That's what I was thinking. Technically they're supposed to be collecting and paying others to properly dispose of it.

 

[Scotteq]

I was going to say the clog was downstream of a chippery... But that's pretty much the whole country, no?

 

[mmntech]

That's what I was thinking. Technically they're supposed to be collecting and paying others to properly dispose of it.

In a lot of jurisdictions, it's against the law to flush oil down the drain for this very reason. Though it's difficult to enforce. As the old saying goes, it's only illegal if you get caught. You won't get fast food chains doing it but Wang's Chinese Take-away might prefer to keep that money in their own pockets.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Wow that's bad. And yeah putting grease down the drain is a VERY bad idea. If it's not going to clog your own pipes it's bound to start clogging the city's, and eventually that will cause sewer backup, and it could be YOUR house, depending on how far the clog is.

Interestingly, pretty much what is happening in our body's when we eat greasy foods. Arteries start to clog up with grease and it hardens. Eventually, you need a bypass.

 

[Slew Foot]

In unrelated news, Oprah just booked a Concorde flight to the UK.

 

[highland145]

In unrelated news, Oprah just booked a Concorde flight out of the UK.

ftfy...The new diet worked but someone has to pay for the cleanup.

 

[Centauri]

What to you understand me to be "preaching" ?

Personal responsibility.