fatberg

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Disgusting' Answer Found in Beach Debris Mystery

'Tar balls' that closed Sydney beaches are made up of same stuff as sewer 'fatbergs'

(Newser) - When thousands of objects believed to have been tar balls washed up on beaches in Sydney, Australia, last month, beaches were closed for days and authorities suspected there had been an oil spill. Scientists, however, tested the dark blobs and determined they weren't tar balls. "What we found...

210-Foot-Long Fatberg Literally Had Teeth

Fake ones, but still

(Newser) - Fatbergs are mostly made up of, you guessed it, fat. But the waste materials mixed in make each mass unique, and tell a lot about the people abusing a city's sewers. So say scientists from England's University of Exeter, who analyzed samples taken from a 210-foot-long fatberg discovered...

Below London, a Blue Whale-Sized 'Concreteberg'

Work to clear the blockage starts next week

(Newser) - A lesson from London: Don't pour concrete down the drain. Otherwise, you might be left with a "concreteberg" like the one currently blocking three central sewers in the Islington borough of the UK capital. It turns out the 115-ton, 330-foot-long mass discovered during a routine check earlier this...

UK Town Finds Fatberg, Tells Locals 'Put Pipes on a Diet'

Sidmouth sewer authority says 'don't feed the fatberg'

(Newser) - Officials say a giant "fatberg" —a mass of hardened fat, oil, and baby wipes measuring 210 feet long—has been found blocking a sewer in a southwestern English town. Andrew Roantree, of South West Water, says it will "take our sewer team around eight weeks to dissect...

Behold, the Famous Fatberg, Now on Livestream

Lower your expectations for excitement

(Newser) - London's 140-ton fatberg was finally pulled from a sewer last year, but it didn't disappear. Samples of the mass of fat, oil, wet wipes, and feminine hygiene products have found a comfortable home in the Museum of London's permanent collection , and you don't need to visit...

'Beast Finally Defeated:' London's Fatberg Is No More

A 140-ton fatberg is gone from the city's sewer

(Newser) - It was longer than two football fields, weighed as much as nearly a dozen double-decker buses , and took nine weeks to annihilate—but the London fatberg is officially no more. "Our work is finished, and the beast finally defeated after a mammoth effort from the team," says Alex...

Baltimore Stops Scraping Its Fatberg, Just Blasts It

City using high-pressure nozzle to get rid of the thing

(Newser) - "If we have to, we'll use our cutter, but the nozzle is working so far." That's the assessment on how the battle goes against Baltimore's somewhat infamous fatberg , discovered in September and now on the road to elimination. The Baltimore Sun reports that after first...

Now Baltimore Has Its Own 'Fatberg'
Now Baltimore Has
Its Own 'Fatberg'
in case you missed it

Now Baltimore Has Its Own 'Fatberg'

Congealed fat, grease, and wet wipes nearly blocking 2-foot-wide pipe

(Newser) - Not content to let those tea-sippers across the pond hog the spotlight, Baltimore just announced its very own "fatberg." CBS Baltimore reports the "congealed lump of fat" was found between Baltimore Penn Station and the 1700 block of Charles Street. The fatberg is comprised of fats, oils,...

Museum Wants to Display Glob of Congealed Grossness

We are speaking, of course, of the fatberg

(Newser) - Congealed wet wipes, diapers, fat, and oil—not exactly what you'd expect to see behind glass at the Museum of London. But if the museum has its way, that's what will come to pass. The city is in the midst of a three-week "sewer war" against a...

London Officials Battling 'Total Monster' in Sewer

A 143-ton 'fatberg' isn't proving easy to deconstruct

(Newser) - British engineers say they've launched a "sewer war" against a giant blob clogging London's sewers, reports the AP . Thames Water officials said Tuesday it will likely take three weeks to dissolve the outsize "fatberg." They caution against expecting quick results as the fatberg is 275...

11-Ton 'Fatberg' Breaks London Sewer

This is just plain gross

(Newser) - Things that weigh less than the "fatberg" removed from a London sewer: 18 horses, 3 Hummer H2s, or 77,000 iPhone 6s. A "fatberg" is what is created when congealed fat and unflushable items (think sanitary napkins, diapers, wipes, the Independent notes) combine in the sewer to create,...

15-Ton 'Fatberg' Nearly Blew Lid Off London Sewers

Wet wipes, cooking fats caused bus-sized blockage

(Newser) - Cooking grease and wet wipes joined forces in the sewers of London to create a revolting 15-ton, bus-sized glob of slime workers dubbed a "fatberg." Waste disposal officials say the blockage is the biggest of its kind ever found and if it hadn't been removed in the...

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