Latest news with #fatberg
ABC News
a day ago
- General
- ABC News
Foul fatbergs on the rise in Perth's sewers as wrong waste flushed
Sewer blockages caused by mounds of grease, oils and wet wipes called fatbergs have exploded in frequency in Perth, as authorities try to stop people putting foreign objects down sinks and toilets. WA's Water Corporation says it responded to 1,329 preventable wastewater blockages in the 2023-24 financial year — a significant increase on previous years. It says most of those issues were caused by fats, oils and grease poured down kitchen sinks. But almost 400 of those blockages were caused by people flushing items like wet wipes, paper towels, cotton buds and sanitary products. Fatbergs are congealed masses of oils, grease and sanitary items that bind together in the sewer system — costing WA taxpayers at least $1 million every year to unclog. "Fatbergs are solid, foul-smelling masses that clog pipes, damage pumps and trigger wastewater spills," Water Minister Don Punch said. "It is a stark and very public reminder of what happens when we do not dispose of waste properly." Water Corp crews need to regularly carry out 'de-ragging' of their wastewater systems, where solid materials like rags and wipes are manually removed from pump stations. "It is dirty, difficult work — entirely avoidable," said Mr Punch. "I thank the people who are involved in that because someone has to do it and it is not the easiest of jobs to do, but they are doing a service to us all." Earlier this year, a massive fatberg forced the cancellation of US singer Bryan Adams's concert at Perth Arena. The blockage could not be cleared before the concert was due to go ahead and the decision was made to cancel it due to the public health risk. In March, the biggest fatberg ever found in WA was hauled from a sewer in Perth's south. It weighed 30 tonnes and took workers two days to carve it up with an excavator. A new coating for pipes being trialled in Melbourne has been shown to reduce the formation of fatbergs by up to 30 per cent. Mr Punch said it was a simple ask — think before you flush. The message from authorities is only three things go in the toilet — "pee, poo and toilet paper". "When it comes to cooking, let fats and oils cool before scraping them into a jar or a bin — do not put them down the sink," he said. "Those small actions make a big difference. It is a shared responsibility."
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Disgusting find costing Aussie state $1m
A rising tide of so-called 'fatbergs' is choking Western Australia's wastewater system, costing the state more than $1m each year. Water Corporation has revealed 1329 of the blockages – large, foul-smelling clumps of fat, oil, grease, and other non-flushable waste – have been reported in the past year alone. The water supplier says the number of 'fatbergs' – also referred to as 'pipe monsters' – increased sharply from 1152 in 2022 and 918 in 2021. Costing near $1m each year to remove, most were caused by kitchen fats, oils, and grease being poured down sinks, combined with items such as wet wipes and paper towels being flushed down toilets. In one high-profile incident, a sold-out Bryan Adams concert at Perth's RAC Arena was cancelled just hours before its scheduled start in February due to a fatberg blockage in the sewer line outside the venue. Emergency crews were dispatched to clear the smelly mass of grease and rags clogging the Wellington Street system in the CBD. Water Minister Don Punch said 850 of the reported blockages were caused by fats, oils, and grease being poured down sinks. 'Another 379 were caused by non-flushable items like wet wipes, cotton buds, sanitary products and paper towels,' he said. Water Corporation head of treatment and resource recovery Rino Trolio said the removal process was time-consuming, costly, and unpleasant for workers. 'The issue is non-flushable material doesn't disintegrate properly and gets matted with fats, oils and grease mistakenly put down the sink. None of this material should be in the sewer network,' he said. 'As a reminder, only the three Ps – pee, poo and toilet paper – should go down the toilet.' In March, crews spent two days removing WA's largest recorded fatberg – a 30,000kg mass found during routine maintenance in Perth. While fatbergs are a global problem for sewer networks, Water Corporation officials said new standards in Australia and New Zealand now define what can legally be labelled as 'flushable'. 'Despite being labelled as such, not all products labelled as 'flushable' can be flushed down the loo. Most wet wipes, for example, don't disintegrate like toilet paper,' Mr Trolio said. 'Unfortunately, wastewater blockages are a reality faced by every water utility in the world but they are entirely preventable.'
News.com.au
a day ago
- General
- News.com.au
‘Fatbergs' wreak havoc on WA's sewer network, costing $1m annually
A rising tide of so-called 'fatbergs' is choking Western Australia's wastewater system, costing the state more than $1m each year. Water Corporation has revealed 1329 of the blockages – large, foul-smelling clumps of fat, oil, grease, and other non-flushable waste – have been reported in the past year alone. The water supplier says the number of 'fatbergs' – also referred to as 'pipe monsters' – increased sharply from 1152 in 2022 and 918 in 2021. Costing near $1m each year to remove, most were caused by kitchen fats, oils, and grease being poured down sinks, combined with items such as wet wipes and paper towels being flushed down toilets. In one high-profile incident, a sold-out Bryan Adams concert at Perth's RAC Arena was cancelled just hours before its scheduled start in February due to a fatberg blockage in the sewer line outside the venue. Emergency crews were dispatched to clear the smelly mass of grease and rags clogging the Wellington Street system in the CBD. Water Minister Don Punch said 850 of the reported blockages were caused by fats, oils, and grease being poured down sinks. 'Another 379 were caused by non-flushable items like wet wipes, cotton buds, sanitary products and paper towels,' he said. Water Corporation head of treatment and resource recovery Rino Trolio said the removal process was time-consuming, costly, and unpleasant for workers. 'The issue is non-flushable material doesn't disintegrate properly and gets matted with fats, oils and grease mistakenly put down the sink. None of this material should be in the sewer network,' he said. 'As a reminder, only the three Ps – pee, poo and toilet paper – should go down the toilet.' In March, crews spent two days removing WA's largest recorded fatberg – a 30,000kg mass found during routine maintenance in Perth. While fatbergs are a global problem for sewer networks, Water Corporation officials said new standards in Australia and New Zealand now define what can legally be labelled as 'flushable'. 'Despite being labelled as such, not all products labelled as 'flushable' can be flushed down the loo. Most wet wipes, for example, don't disintegrate like toilet paper,' Mr Trolio said. 'Unfortunately, wastewater blockages are a reality faced by every water utility in the world but they are entirely preventable.'
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
AI sewers in Sussex help prevent flooding, Southern Water says
Artificial Intelligence (AI) deployed in the sewer system has helped prevent West Sussex homes from flooding, Southern Water learns the normal behaviour of sewers and can tell the difference between morning and evening rushes, rain in the system, and a blockage sensors in a sewer at East Lavington near Petworth on 16 June spotted a blockage caused by a fatberg which was then tackled before gardens and homes flooded with wastewater."We're spotting hundreds of potential blockages before it's too late," said Daniel McElhinney, proactive operations control manager at Southern Water. According to Southern Water, blocked sewers are the single biggest cause of pollution incidents, but AI has now cut internal flooding by 40% and external flooding by 15%.The water company says it has about 32,000 sewer lever monitors that can check on flows and spot anything out of the ordinary which might indicate a blockage or leak. Mr McElhinney said: "Most customers do not realise the average suburban sewer is only the diameter of an orange or a tennis ball."It doesn't take much cooking fat to combine with other 'unflushables' such as sanitary products, wet wipes or even ear cleaning sticks, to form a fatberg," he added.
