The latest fatberg (a hardened mass of condoms, nappies, wet wipes, fat, and other things that people insist on flushing down their toilets) (previously) to clog London’s sewers is the Whitechapel whale, measuring 820 feet long, weighing 130 metric tonnes (as much as 11 double-decker buses) (this is a standard measure of fatbergs).
“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,” said Matt Rimmer, Thames Water’s head of waste networks, who adds that it’s “like trying to break up concrete.”An eight-person crew is using high-powered jet hoses to break up the mass before sucking it out with tankers. That material will then be hauled to a recycling site.
During an eight-to-five workday, workers will remove an average of 20 to 30 metric tons per shift.
London Sewer Workers Fighting Intense “Sewer War” Against 820-Foot ‘Fatberg’ [Mary Beth Quirk/The Consumerist]