🧼🧪 Researchers found that #fatbergs form when calcium in sewer #water reacts with fatty acids to create a process called saponification.
The chemical reaction turns soft oils into hard solids that trap other debris and require specialized #engineering tools to remove.
👉 https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260511-fatbergs-are-taking-over-city-sewers-can-we-stop-them
#chemistry #infrastructure #science #environment #urbanplanning #biology #physics #technology #tech #research #sustainability
Making fat bergs and boomerang poo balls
The ocean as a sewage dump
"Sydney’s sewage system relies on three “deepwater ocean outfall” pipes that run up to 4km out to sea at Malabar, Bondi and North Head. The sewage receives primary treatment to remove some solids and is then pumped through pipes, exiting through diffusers 60 metres below the surface, where the plume mixes with seawater."
“What we’re currently doing now is not sustainable – discharging 80% of the sewage produced by 5 million people into the ocean after only primary treatment...Every drop of water we send out into the Pacific Ocean is wasted water.”
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/24/source-of-fatbergs-closed-sydney-beaches-revealed-report
"From sewage and scum to swimming in ‘blue gold’: how Switzerland transformed its rivers.In the 1960s, the Swiss had some of the dirtiest water in Europe. Now, their cities boast pristine rivers and lakes – and other countries are looking to follow their lead."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/17/from-sewage-and-scum-to-swimming-in-blue-gold-how-switzerland-transformed-its-waterways-aoe
#NSW #beaches #ocean #pollution #dumping #fatbergs #sewage #water #Sydney
“Bondi Cigars” #Fatbergs” & “Poo Balls”
Sydney’s sewage is is flushed out to sea through “deepwater outfall” pipes that reach between 2km and 4km off the coast. Primary treatment involves pumping sewage through a screen to remove solid waste. Secondary treatment – not used at the #Bondi #Malabar and #NorthHead plants – involves finer filtration and biological processing to break down the sewage.
#CSIRO #fossilfuels #microplastics #nanoplastics #Sewerage #Sydney
Unlike commercial wet wipes or baby wipes, because you make these yourself from paper towels, they decompose. The commercial ones are all made from synthetic fibers, which do not biodegrade, so they clog sewer systems and form #fatbergs, which are giant agglomerations of solid fats that people flush down drains that stick to debris (like synthetic wet wipes) and form masses that can weigh several tons.
Never flush synthetic materials or lipids.
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