Fatbergs?

     As I noted in my previous posting, The Problem with Mental Notes, there are plenty of topics around me to write about. All that is required is to pay attention, be alert, and write down the topic idea when they bubble to the surface.  Shortly after I posted that, a topic just fell in my lap.

     I learned about a consequence of our overpopulation and throwaway society: The Fatberg.
     What the heck is a fatberg?

At their core, fatbergs are the accumulation of oil and grease that's been poured down the drain, congealing around flushed nonbiological waste like tampons, condoms and—the biggest fatberg component of all—baby wipes. When fat sticks to the side of sewage pipes, the wipes and other detritus get stuck, accumulating layer upon layer of gunk in a sort of slimy snowball effect. Newsweek 3-14-19

     These things, these fatbergs, when they accumulate can weigh tons (or tonnes if the occur in the UK). They cause sewer backups and are costly to dislodge.

Fatbergs are placing an increasing financial burden in cities throughout the world. Clearing "grease backups" costs New York City more than $4.65 million a year. The U.K. spends about $130 million annually clearing roughly 300,000 fatbergs from city sewers. Even a smaller city like Fort Wayne, Indiana, shells out $500,000 annually to get grease deposits out of sewers. And the cost is usually passed along to customers through their water bills. Newsweek 3-14-19

     The pressure makes these fatbergs dense as stones. They emit all kinds of noxious gases when removing and are laden with bacteria that includes listeria and e-coli. Workers need to be in the sewers in hazmat suits to work on them.
     London, with an old and overwhelmed sewer system, is the most susceptible to this modern phenomenon. The largest fatberg recorded there was in 2017, it got its own name, Fatty McFatberg, and weighed an incredible 130 tons. In this country, Baltimore had one the size of a city block while Detroit had one six feet in height and a hundred feet long.
     There is a bit of bright side. Fatbergs can be converted to biodiesel. It is not clear how cost effective this is but it seems to be a relatively clean way to dispose of these disgusting masses. Researchers are looking at developing bacteria that prevent these fatbergs from forming. It is not clear when or if there will be a solution in this regard. One of the promising methods was reported in 2018:

[University of British Columbia]… scientists heated their experimental fatbergs to between 194 and 212 degrees Fahrenheit before adding peroxide to force the organic matter to break up. Bacteria then turned the fatberg remnants into methane. The process is less costly than the alternative—excavating the sludge before converting it to fuel. Newsweek 8-23-18

     The best solution is for restaurants to stop disposing of grease down the drain and for people to stop flushing wipes away. This will require a massive marketing and advertising campaign to influence behavior. Such campaigns have started in the UK but I have not seen any evidence of such in the US. Furthermore, we have to get away from our disposable habits. Disposing gets trash and biowastes out of sight and out of mind quickly and easily. But, where does these massive amounts of trash and wastes go and how do we deal with them. It is apparent that our growing population have overwhelmed our sewers, waterways, landfills, air, and planet. 

     The question is do we have the governmental and individual wherewithal to make effect such changes. A related question is if we really have a choice?