Will our Sewerage Utilities listen?
If Water Utilities are truly committed to eliminating Fatbergs and resolving recurrent FOG problems, in an effective and environmental way, in keeping with their pledges for #COP26, then they have to be prepared to listen and act, by adopting sustainable solutions. They must be prepared to change to solutions that prevent problems, not purely react to the pain suffered by others, and then only do sufficient to relieve not prevent the same problem from recurring either at a later date, or indeed elsewhere within their sewerage catchment.
Education and awareness are clearly invaluable, but changing bad habits and cultural practices is slow and as proven by the example of recycling household waste collection, this will always be inconsistent as some do, whilst so many others don’t.
The use of Fat Traps to remove FOG at source by the Food Service Sector, absolutely makes sense, but this is only a small, but significant part of the problem. Yet this currently is poorly regulated and difficult and costly to enforce. More must be done to financially reward the recovery and recycling of this valuable commodity which can clearly be used as a recyclable source of fuel, and therefore as such has a significant commercial value. A value that has the potential to be shared, encouraging current offenders to change their ways. However, to consider scaling this to the wider problem, namely to every household connected to a public sewer, is an aim that we will hopefully achieve, but realistically this will only happen long into the future.
With this in mind, there has therefore to be a realistic acceptance on the part of all Water Utilities that FOG in our Sewers is a problem that will remain and a problem that has be dealt with and dealt with far more efficiently than we are at the moment.
If we can successfully eradicate the problems that residual FOGs cause along the journey through the sewers, then we can start to consider the opportunities that this provides for a truly #circulareconomy. We
can look forward to cost savings that this will provide to Water Utilities in terms of recoverable energy in the form of both heat and power. FOG after all is already used as a highly efficient fuel with sludge digestions plants. By safely and effectively extracting even more of this commodity at the end of the journey rather than the unnecessary interventions and the use of additional energy and the production of Carbon and CO2 emissions when utilising current reactive cleansing methods. (Sewer cleansing and blockage removal is predominantly performed using pressurised water jetting which has been proven to be an inefficient and unsustainable reaction to blockages, and Fatbergs and contributory factors which result in surface and property flooding incidents and CSO discharges that pollute our Rivers and Watercourses. Not only are these huge HGV vehicles polluting our atmosphere, but they are also using millions of gallons of perfectly good mains water annually and adding yet further demands on our waste disposal problems above ground when the FOGs removed are transported significant distances to approved Licensed disposal sites which the use even more energy to deal with it).
By enabling our sewers to be more effective at transporting residual FOGs, we can achieve both direct and indirect cost savings that will transform Water Utilities not just in the UK but around the globe. Water Utilities have the opportunity to lead by example and achieve as a result, solutions to so many problems by just addressing one.
Flusher2 is a simple, low cost, retrofit automated drain cleansing device, that cleans and keep sewers clean. It achieves this by attenuating or temporarily storing nothing more than sewerage effluent, and then repeatedly releases a flushing flow similar in action to flushing a WC, but with no requirement for an additional water or power supply. By changing constantly, the flow levels within our drains and sewers, we effectively remove the static flow conditions that promote the build-up of Fatbergs and smaller but equally harmful FOG blockages that occur so regularly. The good news is that these devices are only introduced in areas where problems exist and are not required within adequately performing areas of the catchment. By increasing hydraulic efficiency within underperforming areas, and mobilising FOG to the downstream parts of sewer catchment that normally perform effectively, we can eliminate many hundreds of thousands of blockages every year. By simultaneously eliminating sedimentation, Flusher2 will ensure that sewers operate as close to their peak hydraulic performance as possible, and in doing so, reduce the frequency of unnecessary flooding occurrences and CSO discharges, providing yet further benefits for us all. Hundreds of thousands of remedial interventions will be eliminated, along with the associated costs and consequences. Our valuable sewer assets will no longer be exposed to the frequent and damaging effects of High Pressure Water Jetting, and many sewers with bellies or backfalls which would otherwise be remediated or replaced entirely, will have a prolonged lease of life, reducing both CAPEX and OPEX.
These are truly “Win-Win” opportunities for our Water Utilities, and all they need to do initially talk, and then to act! We therefore invite every Water Utility, both within the UK and beyond to assess the opportunities for a new and better future. One that incorporates Flusher2 as a vital part of an holistic solution.
www.flusher2.com