Don't Let Fats, Oils and Grease Ruin Your Festive Feasts
The holiday season is upon us and that means families will be spending lots of time in the kitchen in the coming weeks. Whether you’ll be cooking a festive feast or baking sweet treats, nothing can put a damper on holiday cheer quite like a stopped-up sink or costly drain clog.
So how can you avoid clogged pipes this holiday season? The best way is to know what can and cannot go down your household pipes. The most common causes of clogs are fats, oils and grease, which can solidify in household drains and, over time, completely block pipes. Many common foods – including sauces, meats, dairy, cooking oil, butter, food scraps and lard – contain fats, oils and grease that can contribute to clogged drains, and should not be poured down drains.
Blocked pipes can back up raw sewage, causing serious health hazards. It can also create an overflow of raw sewage into parks, yards and streets, and pollute groundwater. On top of sewage overflow, blocked pipes can increase costs for local wastewater utilities and their customers.
After all, just like a clog can cause issues in your home, in extreme cases, giant clogs can build up in public wastewater systems, too. Check out this story about a huge “fatberg” that recently caused the public wastewater system in Baltimore to overflow – a story so strange it was even epitomized on a recent episode of "Saturday Night Live" (see 1:04 mark)!
This holiday season, Aqua is offering customers the following tips to keep in mind as you prepare for holiday cooking and baking:
- Never pour grease down sink drains or into toilets. Instead, pour it into a metal can, wait for it to cool, and dispose in the trash!
- Use strainers in sink drains to catch food scraps and other solids.
- Scrape food scraps and grease into a trash can.
- Remember that garbage disposals do not keep grease out of plumbing systems or prevent clogs.
- Avoid flushing wipes down the toilet. Baby wipes – and even wipes marketed as being “flushable” – don’t break down and can cause back ups and clogs.
Aqua does its part to ensure that local pipes and wastewater systems are free of clogs and operating at full capacity. You can do your part by taking necessary steps to avoid clogged pipes. Visit AquaAmerica.com for more information.
