FOG
Fats, Oils, and Grease, also known as FOG, enters the sanitary sewer through sinks, dishwashers, and other drains that are connected to your sanitary sewer pipes. FOG and other food waste enters your drains as a liquid, as it cools starts to solidify and starts to build up along the interior walls of the pipes, collecting other “unflushables” as they travel through the pipes. This will start to create a drag on water flow going through your pipes, and then eventually, clogging the pipe all together. This leads to a sanitary sewer overflow inside your home, business, adjacent buildings, or even in the streets. These spills are a safety hazard that can endanger the public health and impact the health of our community and ultimately impact our waterways in Northeast Wisconsin.
What is FOG?
FOG is found in common foods and ingredients such as:
- Any type of cooking oil (such as extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, etc)
- Salad dressings
- Bacon grease
- Meat fat
- Fish
- Shortening
- Butter
- Sauces
- Dairy products
Often FOG becomes a liquid when heated and may seem harmless to pour and scrape down the kitchen drain, but it causes real trouble for your pipes, sewer, and also your home!
What’s the problem?
The fats, oils, and grease (FOG) found in common cooking items and ingredients can cause buildups inside your house plumbing, sewer laterals, and the larger sewer mains in the street. Over time more and more deposits will build up, eventually clogging the sewer line all together, creating havoc on the sewer system and pipes. If pipes in your house clog, it can be expensive and messy to have the blockage removed. It's easy to #LoveYourPipes from consuming things it doesn’t want. Here are things to consider:
- Can the grease: Running hot tap water down the drain will not help grease float through the sewer pipe. As the water flows through the pipes the water will cool off, creating the fats and oils to start solidifying and hardening, ultimately sticking to the interior walls of the pipes. You can transfer the fats and oils into an old coffee container (or any container) this will allow the FOG to harden, seal it off and store until the container is full. Once container is full you can place it in the trash. Remove as much fats, oils, and grease from pots, pans, and plates prior to washing them in the sink or putting in the dishwasher. You can use your napkin to get the remaining FOG to help reduce the amount that goes down your sink or dishwasher.
NOTE: Never pour hot FOG in your sink or trashcans!
- Room temperature oils: If oils that remain liquid at room temperature (such as extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, etc.) are disposed down the drain, they will contribute to FOG buildup in sewer pipes, where temperatures can dip low enough to cause solidification of these oils. Treat these the same as hot FOG and dispose of into a container to throw away in the trash.
- Garbage disposals: Running the garbage disposal will do nothing to protect your drain lines from accumulating grease. Garbage disposals only shred leftover fats into smaller pieces; they do not get rid of the fats that create grease. FOG solidifies and collects the smaller pieces of fats grinded and will contribute to the interior walls becoming blocked until they become completely clogged.
The best solution is always prevention, so keep FOG out of your pipes and the sewer system to avoid backups in your home! There are many ways you can #LoveYourPipes. 
