The City of Dauphin has been dealing with clogged pipes because of kitchen grease.
Bill Brenner says that over the past few years they have had considerably more issues with the buildup of fats and oils in the city’s sanitary pipes.
He says the increase in issues costs the city.
“It’s getting there. We have to send out our sewer jet to clean them. And obviously the more we have to send it out the more it’s going to cost us. Because running that equipment does cost money, they don’t operate for free. And it takes away from staff doing other work as well when we have to go out and clean these pipes.”
Hot grease solidifies as it cools, which over time starts to clog the pipes as more and more collects.
Businesses like hotels and restaurants mostly cause the problem.
“Residential areas will play some part, because as you know, most people will put grease and oil down the drain. But because it’s not a huge amount at any one time, it’s usually not an issue. It’s not in the residential areas where we’re having issues. It’s in the commercial areas more that we’re having issues with it.”
Dauphin’s building inspector will be contacting businesses around town in the next few weeks to make sure the proper care is being taken to collect grease and fats before it gets into the system.
