Western Australia has experienced the discovery of its largest fatberg ever, weighing in at a substantial 30,000kg, removed from a sewer system.
Fatbergs are composed of materials that are insoluble in water, such as oil, grease, and wet wipes, which are often flushed down sinks and toilets and subsequently accumulate and adhere together.
This colossal waste cluster was extracted from the Woodman Point wastewater treatment facility south of Perth by the WA Water Corporation as part of a routine maintenance program aiming to “keep the pipes flowing.”
“It is estimated to be the largest we have encountered in WA,” stated a Water Corporation spokesperson last Friday.
The maintenance efforts of the corporation cover over 100 wastewater treatment facilities, numerous sewer pump stations, and approximately 18,000km of wastewater mains throughout Western Australia.
Addressing the issue, the spokesperson emphasized, “It’s a persistent, resource-intensive, and costly task to disentangle this kind of waste matter, and it can be entirely avoided.”
The root cause of the problem lies in non-flushable materials not breaking down adequately and intertwining with fats, oils, and grease discarded down sinks.
Such fatbergs not only block sewer pipes but also clog wastewater pumps, sometimes leading to sewage overflows into residences.
“The presence of these materials in the wastewater network is entirely preventable; they should have never been flushed away,” remarked the spokesperson.
Western Australia’s Water Corporation has observed an escalation in blockages attributed to fatbergs and non-flushable substances, with 1,329 preventable incidents reported in 2023, increasing from 1,152 in 2022 and 918 in 2021.
“While we play our part, we also rely on the community to assist in maintaining the uninterrupted flow of our sewer network,” the spokesperson confirmed.
They urge the public to be cautious, as not everything marketed as “flushable” can actually be safely discarded into toilets.
“For instance, most wet wipes do not disintegrate as toilet paper does,” they caution.
