FOGFOGFOGFOG

Fats, Oils, and GreasesFats, Oils, and Greases

What is FOG?

• FOG is an acronym for fats, oils, and greases.

THIS is the problem!!!

Pipes are blocked by fats, oils, and grease

that are put down the drain in your

own home

How is it happening?• Fats, oils, and grease (FOG) from

food becomes solid and sticks to the sides of pipes

• This builds up and blocks water from traveling through the pipes

How FOG Blocks Pipes

Fats

Grease

Oils

Each time you go to pour any fat, oil, or grease down your sinks, remember….

When poured down the

drain, fats, oils, and

grease coat the sides of the pipes

Eventually, the FOG will clump together

and harden, potentially blocking the pipe where no

water can pass through

When water is not able to pass

through the pipes, it causes the water to

overflow from drains. For example,

your kitchen sink may overflow with

waste water

The contaminated water can harm the

environment by allowing wastewater to overflow

from drains into rivers. It also is an expensive and time consuming task to clean up the damage it

causes.

Why is it a problem?

• The blocked pipes cause sewage backups, and breaks in the pipe lines.

Wastewater

FOG Pipe

How does this affect us?

• The back ups have chemicals and bacteria that can make you and the environment sick

• It can be expensive to clean as well as taking a lot of time and effort to clean up

The science behind it

FOG does not mix with water. Even though it may go down the drain as a liquid, it cools down and becomes a solid. This solid sticks to the sides of the pipes and over time will build up and block the water.

How is it cleaned?

Vac-Con trucks have special equipment that is used to clean the pipes of our wastewater system. Certain attachments are used to push water through the pipes to loosen FOG and then the FOG is vacuumed out

What can you do to help?

• Don’t dump fats, oils, and grease down the drains at your home

• Instead, put them in different containers and recycle them

Disposing of FOG• To properly dispose of the

FOG, you should pour the fats, oils, and grease into different containers instead of down the sink.

• When the container is full, take it to the landfill to be safely recycled or thrown away

Remember, pouring fats, oils, and grease down your sinks and drains can damage the wastewater system and cause harm to the local environment. Dispose of the FOG properly