Fatbergs: how 'flushable' wet wipes have created an environmental catastrophe
Thanks! Share it with your friends!
Description
Fatbergs, caused by an entangled mess of wet wipes 'mortared together' by fats, oils and grease to form rock-hard material, are creating a 'real problem with blockages in the pipes', according to Sydney Water's Peter Hadfield. At a single Sydney Water site at Malabar, six dry tonnes of wipes are collected every day. 'People might think it's OK just to pour a little bit of oil down their sink or to flush a couple of wipes during the day but when you've got 5 million people living in your city, collectively that causes a major problem,' says Hadfield, who is part of the 'Keep Wipes out of Pipes' action group. The Guardian went along to Malabar to take a look.
Subscribe to Guardian Australia http://bit.ly/gdnaustraliasubs
'They pick up excrement and ball into dark nuggets': the fatbergs clogging Sydney sewers https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/aug/10/they-pick-up-excrement-and-ball-into-dark-nuggets-the-fatbergs-clogging-sydney-sewers
Support the Guardian https://support.theguardian.com/contribute
The Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/au
The Guardian YouTube network:
The Guardian www.youtube.com/theguardian
Guardian News http://is.gd/guardianwires
Guardian Football http://is.gd/guardianfootball
Guardian Sport http://bit.ly/GDNsport
Guardian Culture http://is.gd/guardianculture