50kg 'fatberg' removed from Horsham sewer
Southern Water's taken action in Bishopric after reports of blocked drains
A massive 'fatberg' weighing 50 kilograms has been removed from a sewer in Horsham.
Southern Water have used heavy jets and other equipment to get it out, after reports of a sewer backing up in the Bishopric area.
If left there, it could have caused manholes to overflow, possible flooding and pollution into local water courses.
Sussex Area sewer network manager Roger Williams said:
“Sewer blockages caused by wetwipes and other unflushables like sanitary products and nappies combined with fat, oil and grease from home cooking or food establishments are all too common,” he said, “fatbergs are the number one cause of pollution in our area. Forunately, we arrived in time to destroy this monster.”
“The addition of more than 20,000 artificial intelligence monitors which detect when sewers in blockage ‘hotspots’ are backing up is changing the game and enabling us to get to far more blockages before the problem turns into a crisis. But with 40,000km of sewers, it’s absolutely vital that people understand not to put the wring things down loos or sinks.”
Every year Southern Water blockage busters deal with up to 50,000 blockages a year.
It's believed a food business could have been partly responsible for the issue, with an investigation now underway by Southern Water's Network Enforcement and Protection team. Roger Williams said:
“This blockage was on a major 450mm sewer so the chances are a food business is involved but domestic blockages are far more common. Most people don’t realise they sewer pipe is only the diameter of an ordinary orange.
“The team will track down where fat is coming from a pay a visit. Normally businesses will come into line and install grease traps as soon as they realise what’s happening but the team can and do mount prosecutions for businesses which fail to clean up their acts."