A giant “fatberg,” a massive glob of hardened grease, oil and wet-wipes that’s more than “six double-decker buses” in size is clogging a sewer in the British town of Sidmouth.
The nasty blockage was found earlier this week in the seaside town, with officials saying it’s “the largest fatberg ever found in the southwest.”
“It’s about 64-metres long, which is the equivalent of about six double-decker buses,” South West Water’s Andrew Roantree said. “It’s formed from a massive of congealed fat and wet-wipes and other material from within the sewer.
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Roantree said it will take crews several weeks to remove the mass, adding it will be a difficult task.
In 2017, a 250-metre fatberg was found in sewers beneath Whitechapel in east London. A chunk of that later went on display at the Museum of London, nestled inside transparent boxes.
South West Water is urging residents to not flush anything down the toilet other than the “three Ps. Pee, paper and poo.”
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Speaking to The Guardian, Roantree said the glob doesn’t pose a threat to bathing water.
“Thankfully it has been identified in good time with no risk to bathing waters. If you keep just one New Year’s resolution this year, let it be to not pour fats, oil or grease down the drain, or flush wet-wipes down the loo. Put your pipes on a diet and don’t feed the fatberg.”
–with a file from Reuters