People are in awe over Britain's biggest "fatberg" to ever be removed from a London sewer; a massive lump of "wrongly-flushed festering food fat mixed with wet wipes formed in drains under London Road in Kingston, Surrey," according to a news release.
The lump was the size of a bus, and it could potentially have flooded homes, streets and businesses in the London suburb.
Gordon Hailwood, waste contracts supervisor for Thames Water, released the following statement about the "fatberg":
While we've removed greater volumes of fat from under central London in the past, we've never seen a single, congealed lump of lard this big clogging our sewers before. Given we've got the biggest sewers and this is the biggest fatberg we've encountered, we reckon it has to be the biggest such berg in British history. The sewer was almost completely clogged with over 15 tonnes of fat. If we hadn't discovered it in time, raw sewage could have started spurting out of manholes across the whole of Kingston. It was so big it damaged the sewer and repairs will take up to six weeks. Homes and businesses need to change their ways, when it comes to fat and wipes, please remember: 'Bin it - don't block it.'
The bus-sized blockage was found after residents complained about their toilets not properly flushing. The "fatberg" was so bug it reduced the 70x48cm sewer to five percent of its normal capacity.
The sewer was in need of repairs of 20 meters worth of damaged pipes. Thames Water began working on the sewer on Monday and the repairs may take up to six weeks.
Thames Water is one of the U.K.'s first water industry-leading initiatives. The company's history dates back to the 1600s with the creation of the New River.
Check out the video below to see the "fatberg!"
