Thanksgiving FOG can cause an unwanted clog

Preparing for the holiday season can be a joyous time with loved ones, but it can also be hectic due to lengthy to-do lists for hosting, cooking, and enjoying elaborate meals. As a result, the kitchen is often bustling with activity. Regardless of your holiday menu, it’s crucial to be sewer-savvy to ensure your stretchy pants are reserved for relaxation rather than plunging emergencies due to a clogged kitchen sink.

So, as you prepare your family feast and during the extensive clean-up that follows, no grease should ever go down your drain. This includes the cooking oil that may be used to deep-fry the turkey and any food remnants that contain fat, oil, or grease (known as FOG), such as gravy, buttery potatoes, or baked goods like leftover pumpkin pie. FOG can cause sewer damage and backups, which you won’t want to deal with over the holiday season.

Water that goes down the kitchen drain doesn’t just disappear. It travels through the sewer system to the wastewater treatment plant to be processed and cleaned. It is then reused for purposes such as groundwater recharge and landscape irrigation or released back into nature to join the water cycle. Because the sewers get water from thousands of kitchens, even the smallest amount of grease and oil can build up and clog a pipe, as the fats and grease cling to the inside of your city’s sewer pipes, causing unnecessary damage. Those greasy contaminants can also make wastewater treatment and processing far more challenging than it has to be.

To avoid clogs and back-ups to ensure your neighborhood keeps things moving, here are a few ways to keep your plumbing working throughout the holidays and save your city time and money while keeping FOG at bay:

• Pour cooking oils and grease into a small container with absorbent material, such as a paper towel or coffee grounds, and dispose of it in the trash or recycle it at a grease disposal or environmental recycling site that may be available in your city (links below). Please do not pour liquids directly into your trash!
• Scrape food from dishes into the trash (not the garbage disposal) and wipe down greasy plates, pots, and pans with a paper towel before washing.
• Filter and reuse large amounts of deep-frying oil.
• Refrigerate and reuse fat for cooking.
• Prevent food particles from entering your sewer by covering your kitchen sink drain with a strainer.
• Limit your use of garbage disposals because they only shred solids and do not prevent grease from building up again.
• And remember that hot water from your tap or dishwasher might appear to melt the grease and push it further down the drain, but it will solidify again once it cools. This will cause a build-up in the main sewer system and can affect neighboring sewer lines.

In addition to time spent in the kitchen, we know that with a house full of company, the bathroom can also see an increase in traffic flow, so it’s important to ensure your guests are sewer savvy by letting them know that what you flush matters. It’s important to remind them that the toilet is not a trash can. Items such as wipes, paper towels, facial tissue, diapers, feminine hygiene products, cotton swabs, cotton balls, band-aids, and dental floss should never be flushed. They do not break down like toilet paper, cause clogs, and get tangled with everything else fighting to get through the pipes, causing backups. So, ensure they understand that human waste and toilet paper are the only acceptable items to be flushed.

By not putting any unneeded strain on all your drains and pipes, you can avoid an unplanned visit from your plumber, not just during the holidays but year-round. Clogged pipes and sewer back-ups are never a good surprise; they can significantly damage your home, neighborhood, and the environment. Limiting contaminants and unwanted items from entering our pipes ensures a clean and properly functioning sewer system, which benefits us all.

Make sure to visit your local conservation webpage  to find out more tips about available cooking oil recycling programs and disposal drop-offs available to you.

For 55 years, the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association has worked to protect our member cities’ ability to provide their communities with assured, safe, and sustainable water supplies. For more information, visit www.amwua.org .