Town flushes problems down the drain

WARRINGTON residents are contributing to a problem that sees the average household pouring 14lbs of fat, oils and grease down the drain in the year – despite knowing better.
Across the North West, this equates to 2.9 million stone – the weight of more than 243,000 UK adults being forced down the pipes!
A research study by water company United Utilities found 70 per cent of Warrington residents are aware that pouring away oils and fats can cause pipe blockages. But it seems resisting the urge to dispose of waste in this way is just too tough for many.
Just over 28 per cent of people pour oil down the sink, adding hot water to try to dilute it, while 11 per cent just pour it down the sink neat. Warrington is also the second most likely town in the North West to pour oil down the toilet – 5 per cent admit doing this.
Warrington residents are, however, the least likely to put leftover vegetables down the sink (3 per cent), and nobody admitted to flushing away their veg, or putting scraps of meat down either the sink or the toilet, which was the case in many other North West locations.
The quantity of fat generated in the region seems to lie in its fondness for fried and fatty food – and Warrington follows the trend.
More than 50 per cent of people eat chips at least once a week, 20 per cent have a burger meal and a fry-up is enjoyed at least weekly by nearly 27 per cent of residents. Cheesy pasta bake is a weekly staple for 50 per cent of those living in Warrington.
Only 13 per cent of residents never fry food and the same percentage are fond of adding more butter and oil than they should to recipes.
Adrian Booth, from United Utilities, who has witnessed first-hand the misery and damage caused by fat being put down the drains said: “We are always being called out to unblock pipes and sewers clogged with solidified fats. Fixing problems is both costly and disruptive, and on those occasions when it’s not our responsibility to fix, it can mean the homeowner having to call out a plumber or a drainage contractor which
unfortunately may result in an unwanted hefty bill.
“The aim of this study was to understand more about how people use and dispose of fats in order to better tackle the issue. As we suspected, many people dispose of fat and food waste by pouring it down the sink or loo, rather than putting it in the bin, even though a large number know that doing so will cause blockages and damage to pipes.
“But the real surprise was how that fat is generated in the first place.”
On the back of the findings, United Utilities has teamed up with award-winning chef Mary-Ellen McTague to launch a “Fight the Fat” campaign that aims to help both people and pipes ditch the grease in this year. This should be good news for the 81 per cent of people surveyed in Warrington who said they wanted a healthier lifestyle.
Mary-Ellen said: “It’s of great concern to hear the amount of fat and grease the North West is pouring down the sink, particularly when it causes such widespread blockage and pollution issues. But I’m also interested in why we are generating such huge quantities of fat in the first place?
“Making a few simple changes to how we prepare our food could help reduce the amount of fat going down our drains and into our bodies.”
Pictured: : Adrian Booth and Mary-Ellen McTague