Sydney Water has launched a campaign to get residents to avoid washing old milk down the sink. This seemingly benign action can lead to serious sewage back-ups. Ben Armstrong, Sydney Water’s principal manager for environment, highlighted that many people are unaware of the potential consequences of their actions.
A recent survey conducted by Sydney Water revealed that 69% of Sydneysiders believe it is acceptable to dispose of expired milk in the sink. Armstrong cautioned against making this a commonplace practice. He explained that the fats in milk can combine with other contaminants in wastewater, leading to catastrophic clogs in the sewer system.
“The only things we want you to put down the sink is really water, soap and detergent,” Armstrong said. He stressed the need to educate the public about disposing of their waste correctly to avoid expensive plumbing bills and blockages.
Over the last nine months, Sydney Water Corp has accrued millions of dollars related costs. These costs are a direct outcome of the clogs created by fats, oils and grease. Today, the utility monitors some 1,300 blockages per month in Sydney’s sewage pipeline network. These impediments are colloquially referred to as ‘chokes.’
Sydney’s population is now about 5.5 million. So if each one of Indy’s 800,000 residents pours grease down the sink from hamburgers, milkshakes, etc., they’ll contribute mightily to those sewage system issues. This practice causes major harms that need to be reformed. Armstrong explained how these fats are the primary ingredients in fatbergs—giant masses of unwelcome waste that can create catastrophic ruptures.
“It adds to the buildup of fat and what we call ‘fatbergs’ in the system, and can create a lot of problems,” he explained. These fatbergs cause considerable maintenance burdens, which flow back down to affect customer bills.
The problem goes farther than the issue with milk – it affects many other food products that contain fats. “It’s all foods or liquids that have fats in that we are keen for people not to put down the drain,” Armstrong noted.
Stuart Khan is Professor and Chair of the School of Civil Engineering, University of Sydney. Addressing these concerns, he elaborated that sewage drains carry water from many points in our homes, including kitchens and bathrooms that dispose of potentially infectious bacteria. He noted that most residents don’t know that when they dispose, what they do affects the entire system.
Khan added, “One benefit about talking about milk is that it makes you start thinking about other sources of fat … and that’s where we start to have these critical conversations about nutrition.” He added that there should be more awareness about more insidious fats that can cause clogging problems.
Sydney Water’s latest campaign seeks to expand public awareness about what belongs in sinks and toilets. Armstrong underscored that only “pee, poo, and paper” should go in toilets. He encouraged residents to seek out other disposal methods for the waste they no longer want or need.
Both Armstrong and Khan pointed out the role that residents play in keeping sewage spills and overflows at bay from Sewage Spills WI Blockages. “It does have a huge impact on maintenance needs, therefore it has a big impact on the water utility costs, and they all flow back to customer bills,” Armstrong stated.
These sewage blockages aren’t just a concern for Sydney. Cities all over the world are dealing with the same problem. “All of the big cities around the world are dealing with this problem,” Khan noted, highlighting the global nature of this issue.
