Make a fat-free kitchen sink your best festive gift

Whether it is the traditional turkey, or a tasty seafood spread on the menu this Christmas Day, SA Water is urging all South Australians to stop pouring nasty fats, oils and food scraps down the kitchen sink and help avoid any nasty sewer overflows.

Along with a raft of ‘unflushables’ like wet wipes, tampons, and condoms, cooking fats are among the main contributors causing blockages and chokes in the state’s wastewater network, leading to potential wastewater overflows into residential properties or the environment.

SA Water’s Senior Manager Communications, Media and Stakeholder Engagement Joshua Zugajev said the message is all the more important heading into the busy festive period.

“Acting much like a thick glue, the nasty combination of grease, fats and food scraps sent down the kitchen sink can congeal together and clog your internal pipes,” Joshua said.

“We have unfortunately seen many occurrences where this build-up of food and fats can lead to sewer blockages sending everything flushed down your toilets and sinks coming back up the wrong way, which certainly isn’t the ideal way to enjoy a festive meal with family or friends.

“As well as creating foul-smelling odours in the pipes, fats and oils also discourage the growth of the naturally occurring good bacteria needed in the treatment process at our wastewater treatment plants.

“For those looking to cook-up a juicy hot roast this Christmas Day, the best advice to keep your pipes happy is to cool any excess fats and oils in the pan, before mopping-up small amounts with paper towel to pop in the bin or storing in an old jar or container.

“When it comes to prawns, pavlova or any other festive food remnants left on your plate, it is important that any scraps are disposed of using the bin and not down the drain.”

SA Water’s concerted effort to remind South Australians to keep foreign objects out of the state’s sewers in 2022 has underpinned a significant decrease in sewer blockages, with a 45 per cent decrease in blockages caused by ‘unflushables’ this October compared to the same time last year.

“It’s great to see so many South Australians heed these important messages, and we want everyone to keep-up the good work as we head into 2023 and make their new years reso-loo-tion to keep flushing only the ‘Three Ps’ of toilet paper, pee and poo.”

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