WSSC issued the following press release on Wednesday, November 22, reminding residents to “not be a turkey” and pour hot grease down your drain. Per WSSC:
“Imagine a house full of guests for Thanksgiving. A delicious feast of turkey and all the trimmings is about to be served when your holiday is ruined by THIS! – > – > – > – >
THIS (see pic) is what happens when you repeatedly dump grease down the drain. It hardens inside pipes and forms a blockage. The next thing you know, you’re not passing the stuffing; you’re calling an emergency plumber to “unstuff” your pipes. Sewage is backing up into your home.
Follow these three simple steps, so you don’t have to invite the plumber on Thanksgiving or any day.
- CAN IT: pour grease into an empty soup can;
- COOL IT: put the can in the freezer or refrigerator until it hardens*; and
- TOSS IT: once the can is full, throw it in the trash.
Allowing grease, food scraps, poultry skin, dressing or vegetable peels to go down the drain is a recipe for an expensive and messy sewage backup inside your home. Can the Grease instead!
Think pouring hot water down the drain will help prevent a blockage? Think again! The water may push the grease further inside the pipe, eventually hardening and causing a sewage overflow inside a home or from a manhole – resulting in an environmental hazard with wastewater spilling into creeks, streams and, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay.
WSSC Water’s Fats, Oils and Grease inspection program, targeted at restaurants to ensure proper disposal, has been a huge success in preventing grease from entering the sewer system.
*WSSC Water customers can get more information, including a free Can the Grease lid, by visiting www.wsscwater.com/canthegrease.”