Fats, Oils & Grease (FOG)
Impacts of improperly disposing of fats, oil, and grease
Fats, oils, and grease (FOG) comes from meat fats in food scraps, cooking oil, shortening, lard, butter and margarine, gravy, and food products such as mayonnaise, salad dressings, and sour cream.
FOG poured down kitchen drains accumulates inside sewer pipes. As the FOG builds up, it restricts the flow in the pipe and can cause untreated wastewater to back up into homes and businesses, resulting in high costs for cleanup and restoration.
Manholes can overflow into parks, yards, streets, and storm drains, allowing untreated sewage to contaminate local waterways.
FOG discharged into septic systems and drain fields can also cause malfunctions, resulting in more frequent tank pump-outs and other more costly expenses, like system replacement due to premature failure.
Restaurants, cafeterias, and fast-food establishments spend thousands of dollars on plumbing emergencies each year to deal with grease blockages and pump out grease traps and interceptors.
Unplugging or replacing grease-blocked pipes, repairing pump stations, and cleaning up sewer overflows is very costly and can affect the quality of local waterways.
So, keeping FOG out of the sewer system helps everyone in the community.
What You Can Do to Reduce FOG
Just a few simple actions can prevent FOG buildup in the sewer system. Here in Perinton…
FLUSH
Don’t be a drain on your drain
Do you ever think about where your waste goes once you flush the toilet? The network of sewer pipes under your house is designed to carry toilet paper and human waste to either a private septic system or a public sanitary sewer system.
Unfortunately, unflushable items like wet wipes, paper towel, tissues, cotton swabs and toys always seem to make their way into the wastewater collection system. Once down the drain, they clump together and can cause serious blockages. This can result in a sewer plug, which may back up wastewater into your home.
A list of “unflushables” is provided below; they are items that are not intended for and NEVER should be flushed as they do not breakdown like toilet paper.
Contact Information
Email: Sewer Department
Perry L. Stolt
Deputy Commissioner of Public Works – Sewers
Business Hours: Monday – Friday 7:30am to 4:00pm
Phone: (585) 223-5115 / Fax: (585) 223-0448
After Hours Contact: (585) 425-7380
