Baltimore Beware: FOG and Wipes Cause Major Overflow into Stream

Fats, oils and grease (FOG) are not to be taken lightly. You may think that a little grease here or a wet wipe there won’t hurt your drains, right? Recently in Baltimore, Maryland what has been referred to as a “fatberg” caused 1 million gallons of sewerage to leak into Jones Falls at the end of September. While investigating the leak, Baltimore authorities noted that about 85% of the pipe is blocked.

The overflows have since been redirected to storm drains, but this could have been prevented. Home owners and business owners a like should be wary of not disposing of FOGs down their drains and even though some of those wet wipes boast “flushable” they should still be disposed of in the trash. By following best practices such as installing a strainer on drains and sinks and disposing of grease properly this could have been an avoidable mess.