What To Do With Fat, Oil And Grease?

Many local homeowners are concerned about the performance of their plumbing infrastructure. They might not know it, but they could be causing many problems with the items they’re flushing into their sink systems.

Products such as fat, oil and grease can have a lasting, cumulative impact on the performance of sewer infrastructure, and those who wash these products down into their sink or toilet systems could be causing harm to both their private sewer lines and the city sewers under their streets. In this blog, we’ll focus on what you should be doing with fat, oil and grease within your home.

The Problems Caused by Fat, Grease and Oil in the Sewer System

Some homeowners believe that, when oil and grease products are washed down their sink, the material is simply gone for good. But the issue is that these products can cause significant build-up in the pipes.

This, in turn, can block sewers, which then leads to a range of infrastructure issues, including the following:

• Overflowing of sewage into your home

When grease builds up within the sewer lines underneath the home, it can prevent sewage entering and being filtered into the system. This leads to overflowing sewage across the property.

• Increase in maintenance costs

The clean-up work required for significant grease blockage issues is significant. Depending on the cause of the damage and the location of the damage, this cost might have to be paid by the homeowner. This highlights the importance of effective grease, fat and oil product disposal.

How Can You Safely Remove Grease, Oil and Fat from Your Home?

For those who regularly cook with grease, fat and oil products, there are specific actions they can take to help prevent the products entering their sewer lines and systems. Below are some examples of preventative measures:

• Allow the grease to harden then scrape the remaining products into green bins
• Place small amounts of liquid within green bins (the liquid must be soaked up by other green bin materials)
• Collect large amounts within a sealed container labeled “Cooking oil.” Then periodically drop off the oil products at a local Household Hazardous Waste depot
• Call a local Toxics Taxi to pick up your cooking oil container

To ensure your sewer systems are performing to peak capacity, follow these guidelines and aforementioned products according to the latest environmental standards. This commitment can help improve plumbing performance and reduce the costs of sewer maintenance within your home and across your local community.