Manchester’s water company is on a mission to make the city’s sewers free of fatbergs.
United Utilities are running a campaign throughout October called ‘Unblocktober’. They are sending in their expert fat busters to stop restaurants, takeaways and other food outlets pouring fats, oils and grease (FOG) from their foods down the drain.
There will be a focus on three main areas in the pilot scheme which will be rolled out to other parts of the region if it’s successful.
The main areas of focus will be Oxford Road, the Northern Quarter and China town and they will receive help and advice on how to dispose of FOG correctly to prevent sewer blockages, flooding and costly sewer cleaning.
Representatives from United Utilities will be visiting food establishments in those three areas to carry out performance audits of premises, provide recommendations, deliver training on process, offer advice on what equipment to use and install and provide guidance on how to remain compliant with waste disposal regulations.
Fatbergs can build up in sewers when FOG’s and items other than the three P’s (pee, paper and poo) are disposed of down the drain. Each year, United Utilities attend to around 28,000 blockages in the sewer network, which costs around £10million.
Earlier this year, a 400 tonne, 250 metre long fatberg was discovered in Liverpool and is thought to be the biggest ever one discovered in the North West. It was made up of congealed fats, oils etc which could not be cleared with the traditional high powered water jets and it had to hacked out by hand costing around £100,000.
For more information, please click here.
