Nov 21, 2007 7:39 pm US/Central
Grease Clogging Fort Worth Drains
City Leaders Remind Residents: 'Cease The Grease'
VIdeo Shows How Grease Accumulates
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
A clogged house drain is a personal inconvenience, but when the city's line clogs, it becomes everyone's problem.
North Texans are encouraged to "Cease the Grease" this holiday season, and there's no better example of what happens to city drains than to take a look inside.
Older ones are caked with grease, similar to what happens to our arteries when they get clogged.
Jerry Pressley from the Fort Worth Water Department said, "This material is going to be manifested more in a smaller diameter pipe, so it doesn't take as much grease to close a smaller pipe."
Pressley's job is to educate people on how to "Cease the Grease." That's a hefty challenge in Fort Worth, where there are more than 1 million customers.
"Over time, the grease is going to accumulate and constrict the pipes," said Pressley. "At the point it constricts… waste waters are going to flow to that obstruction and then start backing up. It will find the path of least resistance and that could be in your house."
A most unpleasant thought, but certainly avoidable if you follow a few simple rules.
According to Pressley, bacon grease is a main culprit. The last thing you want to do is to pour it down your kitchen sink, even in small amounts.
The best choice is to pour the excess grease into a container, which you can then throw away. Then use a paper towel to wipe out the pan and throw the towel away too.
"It's more cost effective to do that at the local level than to spend the tens, thousands, millions of dollars cleaning it out once it's in the system," said Pressley.
The bottom line is to capture what grease you can, throw it away and don't let it go down the drain.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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