Massive London Fatberg Weighs as Much as 11 Double Decker Buses
Posted on September 12, 2017
Thames Water engineers have discovered an enormous fatberg that weighs more than eleven double decker buses. The fatberg weighs 130 tons and is over 250 meters (820.21 feet) long. The engineers plan to wage a three week war on the fatberg reducing it by a little bit each day until it is gone.
Thames Water says fatbergs are formed from items like "fat, wipes, nappies, cotton buds, sanitary products and condoms." They have a "bin it - don't block it" campaign that encourages people to throw away these types of items and not to let fat go down the drain or flush wipes down the toilet. Clearly, not everyone is paying attention to the ads.
Matt Rimmer, head of waste networks for Thames Water says in a statement, "This fatberg is up there with the biggest we've ever seen. It's a total monster and taking a lot of manpower and machinery to remove as it's set hard. It's basically like trying to break up concrete. It's frustrating as these situations are totally avoidable and caused by fat, oil and grease being washed down sinks and wipes flushed down the loo."
Thames Water shared a video of the monster fatberg in the sewer on Twitter. A rat can be seen scurrying over it.
Our version of a walking tour of London: see for yourself the monster #Fatberg everyone's talking about: pic.twitter.com/LNd81wAliO
— Thames Water (@thameswater) September 12, 2017