arthur wouk
2017-09-14 05:28:32 UTC
https://nyti.ms/2eWLwPw
Sewer in London's East End Menaced by Giant Fatberg
By AMIE TSANG SEPT. 13, 2017
There is a monster beneath the streets of London, menacing the
East End underworld.
What has been named the Whitechapel fatberg is a rock-solid
agglomeration of fat, disposable wipes, diapers, condoms and
tampons. It was discovered to the east of the city's financial
district, occupying a sixth of a mile of sewer under Whitechapel
Road, between one of London's largest mosques and a pub called
the Blind Beggar, where walking tours are taken to reminisce
about a notorious gangland murder.
Thames Water, the capital's utility, said the fatberg weighed as
much as 11 of the city's double-decker buses: more than 140 tons.
That is 10 times the size of a similar mass that the company
found beneath Kingston, in South London, in 2013, and declared
the biggest example in British history.
To prevent the contents of the sewer from flooding streets and
homes nearby, the utility is sending an eight-member team to
break up the fatberg with high-powered jet hoses and hand tools.
The task is expected to take them three weeks, working seven days
a week.
'It's a total monster and taking a lot of manpower and machinery
to remove,' said Thames Water's head of waste networks, Matt
Rimmer. 'It's basically like trying to break up concrete.'
Such blockages are not unique to London. New York City has spent
millions of dollars on problems created by disposable wipes. Even
the ones branded as flushable were combining with materials like
congealed grease to upend plumbing. Hawaii, Alaska, Wisconsin
and California have struggled with similar problems....
Sewer in London's East End Menaced by Giant Fatberg
By AMIE TSANG SEPT. 13, 2017
There is a monster beneath the streets of London, menacing the
East End underworld.
What has been named the Whitechapel fatberg is a rock-solid
agglomeration of fat, disposable wipes, diapers, condoms and
tampons. It was discovered to the east of the city's financial
district, occupying a sixth of a mile of sewer under Whitechapel
Road, between one of London's largest mosques and a pub called
the Blind Beggar, where walking tours are taken to reminisce
about a notorious gangland murder.
Thames Water, the capital's utility, said the fatberg weighed as
much as 11 of the city's double-decker buses: more than 140 tons.
That is 10 times the size of a similar mass that the company
found beneath Kingston, in South London, in 2013, and declared
the biggest example in British history.
To prevent the contents of the sewer from flooding streets and
homes nearby, the utility is sending an eight-member team to
break up the fatberg with high-powered jet hoses and hand tools.
The task is expected to take them three weeks, working seven days
a week.
'It's a total monster and taking a lot of manpower and machinery
to remove,' said Thames Water's head of waste networks, Matt
Rimmer. 'It's basically like trying to break up concrete.'
Such blockages are not unique to London. New York City has spent
millions of dollars on problems created by disposable wipes. Even
the ones branded as flushable were combining with materials like
congealed grease to upend plumbing. Hawaii, Alaska, Wisconsin
and California have struggled with similar problems....
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âDonât talk unless you can improve the silence.â â Jorge Luis Borges
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âDonât talk unless you can improve the silence.â â Jorge Luis Borges