London museum is livestreaming a key 21st-century artifact: festering sewage | Hacker News Reader

London museum is livestreaming a key 21st-century artifact: festering sewage

arstechnica.com

39 pointsokket13 comments

A lot of people make a big deal about the less biodegradable wet wipes (people carry with them, and use instead of toilet paper) and disinfecting towelettes (used for killing germs on hard countertops and metal/plastic/wood/tile surfaces) but it’s interesting to see that 90% of the mass is fat and or derivatives of fat as when converted to harded soap precipitates.

There’s a lot of junk people flush, that aren’t intended to pass down drains and sit in pipes or receive sewage processing. Are wet wipes and disposable germ cleansing antiseptic towels and products like daipers and condoms as big a deal as people make them out to be?

According to the sewage experts providing an analysis of the Whitechapel fatberg in London, yes, wet wipes and such are a big part of the problem¹. Wet wipes and other comparable sanitary products combine with the fat in the sewers to create these blockages — massive ones in areas with ageing sewer pipes and a lot of people.

Solving this problem means reducing both fat and sanitary products that should not be flushed.

One proposed action in London is to stimulate toilet owners to place bins next to the men's toilets as well. A sizeable group of men using wet wipes is a recent phenomenon, providing a place to dispose of them might help.

And honestly, what makes people flush nappies, period products, and condoms down the toilet? Awareness (clear 'don't flush' messages on packaging perhaps?) can be part of the solution too.

1: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/18/dont-fee...

I've often wondered why it isn't mandatory that large buildings or complex of building don't have something like this device inline (https://www.jwce.com/product/30k-40k-inline-muffin-monster/) to homogenize their output stream.

"Awareness" brings you things like "Dwaine Pipe" :|

https://www.nwl.co.uk/your-home/learn-about-water/Dwaine-Pip...

That's aimed at children.

Water companies have less cartoony messages aimed at adults.

> Did you know that only toilet paper, pee and poo should go down the loo?

Dwaine Pipe has a sensible message though. If it works, it works.

Tony the Toilet Buddy could help, too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83KLxQ1jjdg

I don't think I've ever come across a toilet which would take a nappy ... I can imagine condoms and smaller items, but nappies would take a fair amount of effort to shove down.

If I've understood correctly (and I hope someone corrects me if I'm wrong) the main issue with wet wipes etc. in the fatbergs is not the mass they contribute to them. The main issue with them is that they act as a really effective and poorly-degradable binding agent for all the other (sometimes literal) crap that accumulates in the fatbergs and allow them to grow to such large sizes.

If those wipes are incapable of breaking into pieces and they get snagged, they will snag many, many other things as they swirl around, still trapped against the side of the sewer. They certainly are a massive contributor in that sense, even if by mass excrement or grease or another component is a higher %.

Most disposable stuff have no excuse anyways.

I've always wondered what real sewage looks like. Now I can watch it while snacking on popcorn.

I wonder if something like a non-stick (PTFE) coating would be effective in preventing deposits from growing again.

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