Where is the fattest street in Metheringham?

Why are fats, oils and greases causing problems now?
a) Fat production for cooking has trebled since the 1960s
b) We eat out more, use more takeaways and eat more convenience foods
c) As emphasis on recycling and tighter control on waste collection have grown, temptation to throw more waste down the sink or drain has increased
d) The amount spent on jetting costs to clean sewers has trebled in 5 years, according to Water UK

How do sewers become blocked?
a) There is a view that you can pour hot fat down the sink and drain - DON'T! if you
do it could cause a blockage resulting in sewage flooding in your property, your
neighbour's or in the street - and if it gets in a river of watercourses it can be
devastating for wildlife.
b) Hot fat quickly solidifies in the sewer and can become hard as rock taking specialist equipment to get rid of it.
c) Cooking oil can mix with grit etc, in the sewer.
d) Abuse of sewers in this way can lead to increased rodents - in one trial that Anglian Water has carried out with WRc (Water Research Centre) in Chelmsford, the rodent population was significantly reduced when restaurants and takeaways took steps to dispose of their fats, oils and grease responsibility - and there have been no cases of sewer blockages!

What should we do with our fats, oils and grease?
a) Collect fat and oil in a container which can be used to mix with seeds and nuts to feed birds.
b) Scrape food waste from plates into a bin - do not jet wash or rinse them under a tap - and do not use a macerator.
c) Use an organic fat trap to soak up fat - this can then be thrown into the bin.
d) If you have a fat fryer lobby your county council to install containers for the collection of cooking oil at their recycling centres - at the moment many only recycle motor oil.

Restaurants and Takeaways
These establishment should have their oil and fat collected for conversion into biodiesel
According to Water UK food outlets are one of the main sources of problems that are experienced around the country. Have you smelt a bad whiff walking down your high street? It's more than likely caused by fat in the sewer beneath your feet. Make sure your favourite restaurant, pub or takeaway is disposing of their fats, oils and greases responsibility!

If enough restaurants and takeaways are interested in protecting their community, cutting down on odour and tackling vermin issues, as well as saving themselves money on cleaning their own pipes, then Anglian Water can help with:

(i) Education
(ii) Free Waste cooking oil and solid fats collection service

The free collection service provider can leave a drum to collect the oil in, call on a given day in the week and leave a receipt for the oil and fat taken, so that businesses can show they are having their waste oil etc taken away.

Ten percent of the capacity of our sewer is being lost to fats and oil. This amount to 10,000 tonnes, which if converted could make 10 million litres of biodiesel, enough to run 8,000 average cars for a year.

Jetting out sewers costs £5 million a year in the Anglian Water region. It is money literally down the drain, because unless we change our habits, no sooner has the sewer been cleaned than the fat starts building up again. We are trying to reduce our use of energy in the face of climate change. Regular jetting also takes its toll on sewers and uses energy. Anglian Water needs to reduce its use of energy by 10% by 2010.