In England, a giant fatberg has been found blocking a sewer in a seaside town. According to BBC News, the fatberg is 210 ft long. The fatberg, made up of fat, wet wipes and grease, was found near the sea in Sidmouth, Devon.
According to South West Water (SWW), the fatberg was the biggest it had found and it would take about eight weeks to remove. The firm’s director of wastewater is thankful it was discovered “in good time” with “no risk” to the quality of sea bathing waters. Andrew Roantree said the discovery showed fatbergs were not only found in the UK's biggest cities, "but right here in our coastal towns".
The fatberg is longer than the height of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and more than twice as long as a tennis court, according to BBC.
The chances of people’s bathrooms backing up as a result were “very unlikely” because the fatberg was far from homes, according to SWW.
Jason Alexander, a wildlife photographer, found 561 wet wipes on the River Orwell near Ipswich. According to BBC, he has been documenting his discoveries since March 2018.
"I had been taking a series of sunrise photos on consecutive days and each time I had to remove rubbish,” Alexander said to BBC News. “I once found 600 wet wipes. It made me set up @ukrubbishwalks to raise awareness of the problem.”
Alexander has also found cotton buds, tampon applicators and pregnancy test kits, according to BBC. He would like to see homes fitted with waste pipe filter so householder see first hand what is happening when they flush material like wet wipes.
"People are inherently lazy and want to get rid of stuff as conveniently as possible," Alexander said to BBC News. "We have to keep reminding that when it comes to flushing down the loo, it is just not acceptable."
According to BBC News, fatbergs form when people put thing such as fat, wet wipes, sanitary towels and condoms down sinks and toilets.
A fatberg weighing 130 metric ton was blocking a Victorian-era sewer in London in 2017 and took nine weeks to remove, according to BBC News. A chunk of the fatberg went on show at the Museum of London and was hailed for increasing visitor numbers.
According to BBC News, sewer workers discovered the fatberg in Sidmouth in December 2018 but they will not find its exact size or weight until they start to remove it.
