While cutting the fat in your diet, try cutting the fat you put down your drain and help keep our sewer lines and creeks cleaner too.
The main source of clogged sewer lines is oil and grease from home cooking in the family kitchen. The problem is exaggerated at apartments and other multi-family dwellings where many kitchens are connected to the same sewer line.
Fats, oils and grease that are poured down the kitchen sink will cool and can solidify in sewer pipes. Oil and grease solids cling to the inside walls of the pipes causing narrowing and eventually grease blockage in the sewers. In Richardson, about half of the sewer main overflows are caused by grease build up. Sewer overflows and the stormwater pollution they create are a major concern and can result in substantial ecological damage to streams and the imposition of costly fines to the municipality.
There are a few steps that we all can take to prevent costly sewage overflows and stormwater pollution:
- Never pour fats, oils or grease from cooking down the sink. Even if you run hot water down the drain, the grease will eventually harden either in your sewer line or the City sewer main, causing a blockage.
- Pour all fats, oils and greases into a coffee can or other durable container. Small quantities (up to a gallon) of fat can be disposed in the trash if solidified, but send it to the landfill only as a last resort. Find an approved drop off location near you at the ceasethegrease.org website.
- Wipe out excess grease from plates, pots and pans with a paper towel or newspaper before washing or placing in the dishwasher. Toss the paper towel in the trash.
- Put food scraps in the trash, not down the garbage disposal.
- Never pour oils, grease or waste of any kind in the street or in storm drains.
These suggestions can and will save you money. Most sewer backups occur between the house and the City’s sewer main, where the property owner is responsible for correcting the problem.
Proper disposal of fats, oil and grease reduces both the need for City crews to unstop sewer lines, and the cost of sewage treatment. Dispose of your grease properly and help keep Richardson beautiful.