The City of Lubbock is reminding people to avoid pouring fats, oils and grease down drains.
Christian Shirley, a plumber for Armstrong Plumbing, said this issue is something he sees frequently.
“And once it solidifies, we can run our cable through there, but it’s never gonna clear it completely,” Shirley said. “The cable will go in, and then it will come out, but that grease will just fall right back on to itself.”
Shawn Thomas, service manager for Mr. Rooter of Lubbock Plumbing, said removing grease and other substances from the drain can be costly. He said depending on the severity of the FOG, plumbers need to use special equipment to remove it.
“That copper, the older that it is, the thinner it is and so when we start running a cable, it can actually become stuck and then we have to actually remove the piece of the foundation and in some cases reroute those lines,” Thomas said.
Larry Barrow, plumbing service supervisor for Armstrong, said pouring FOGs down the drain can also affect the city.
“We call the city quite often because the city line is stopped up,” Barrow said. “We have no idea what’s in it but I’m sure lots of grease and stuff.”
Director of Water Utilities for the City of Lubbock released the following statement:
“The City Water Department encourages our customers to avoid pouring fats, oils, and grease (FOG) down their drains. FOG can cause backups and expensive repairs in customer’s sewer lines as well as damage the City’s sewer mains and wastewater treatment facilities. We ask that FOG be scraped, bagged, and disposed of properly in the garbage,” Spear wrote.
Other things plumbing companies say to avoid putting in your sink include rice, pasta, butter and egg shells.
“Flush down everything that you put down there with plenty of hot water and that usually tends to help the most,” Thomas said.
For more information on how to dispose of waste properly, call the city at 311.
