Fatberg in Sidmouth: Crews start to REMOVE huge fatberg - disgusting things inside fatberg
WORK has begun to remove a 64-metre monster fatberg blocking a sewer in Sidmouth, Devon - but what kind of things are inside the vomit-inducing waste mass?
Devon: Gigantic fatberg discovered blocking Sidmouth sewer
The operation to break down and eliminate the stinking toxic fatberg will take about eight weeks, according to South West Water. Charlie Ewart is the sewer worker who was the first person to locate the fatberg and will lead the team in its removal. He said the putrid odour did not worry him, saying “you get immune” to it. He told The Guardian: “We’re looking forward to getting it out. It’s quite eerie down there in the sewer and you have to keep an eye out for rats. But it’s a challenge. Somebody’s got to do it.”
A similar fatberg in a Victorian sewer below Whitechapel smelt “like rotting meat mixed with the odour of a smell toilet”, according to Thames Water.
What is inside the fatberg?
The fatberg is mainly formed of fats and oils greased together with wet wipes and other unflushable objects such as sanitary products.
The stomach-churning obstructions congeal as they build up and can, as happened with the Whitechapel fatberg, turn “rock solid”.
READ MORE: FLUSHED CONDOMS CAUSE A HUGE BERG IN SEWERS WARNS WATER COMPANY
The 250m fatberg discovered in the East End in 2017 was formed of congealed fat, nappies, wet wipes, condoms and oils.
Officials said it weighed 130 tonnes, the equivalent of 11 double-decker buses, and was the length of two Wembley football pitches.
A chunk of it later went on display in the Museum of London, becoming its most popular attraction.
While fatbergs are becoming a greater problem in urban areas, the Sidmouth solid was a total surprise due to its location being in a seaside town.
READ MORE: BRITISH HOMES ‘POURING 18 MILLION LITRES OF COOKING FAT DOWN THE DRAIN EACH YEAR’
The company’s director of wastewater Andrew Roantree said: “It shows how this key environmental issue is not just facing the UK’s cities, but right here in our coastal towns.
“It is the largest discovered in our service history and it will take our sewer team around eight weeks to dissect this monster in exceptionally challenging work conditions.
“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.
READ MORE: BRITISH WILDLIFE THREATENED BY DEADLY ONSLAUGHT OF PLASTIC WASTE WARNS RSPCA
"Put your pipes on a diet and don’t feed the fatberg.”
Sewer workers will use a combination of pick axes and high-pressure water hoses to break down the mass and suck out the fat.
There are no dangers to residents or workers in the nearby area.
South West Water said in a statement on its website: "Fortunately, the fatberg has had no impact on Sidmouth's excellent bathing water quality and has been discovered in good time.”