Pouring fat down the drain

[Fatbergwhat]

Is it stupid to pour fat from cooking or say a wax melt melted down with water down the drain? I just came across my partner of 20 years doing this with a wax melt he was cleaning out of the burner. I think it's absolutely mad and he's an idiot. He thinks it's fine.

What do others think?

There will be a fatberg underground near you that the oil you pour down the drain will be contributing to even if the oil is liquid.

Remember oil is sticky..

He is an idiot sorry. My dh is an trade's person and rants about this at work while doing it at home himself. Go figure.

Yes it's stupid, and I hope that he foots the plumbing bill out of his fun money, not the general household budget.

This.

Btw, I went through a phase of pouring the oil away in the garden to help water pipes. Do not do this. My cat found the roast chicken fat, rolled around it and was a smelly spikey-haired punk for days.

Well your husband can unblock it once he's blocked It.

That's just muppetry. He's a twat.

Oils thicken and solidify as they cool, which they will quickly once in the drain and sewer system. So wipe out the pan and bin the residue.

I wipe the worst out with kitchen paper and bin that, or tip it into our kitchen composter caddy with the food scraps waste. The grill pan is lined with foil so once the meat fat that drips into it has cooled and solidified it too is parcelled up and binned.

That leaves as little grease as possible which I obviously do have to wash off with hot water and detergent. We still flush our kitchen drain through with a strong solution of washing soda crystals every few months to keep it free flowing and we do have our own proper drain plunger in case needed.

None of that would be of any use against solidified wax though. Putting that down the drain is utterly dickish. Does he have more than a single brain cell? It really should be binned.

My DH got a royal bollocking last week for pouring fat down the drain which then froze solid and blocked the drain. He does the cooking, I get the shit jobs like being stood outside in the dark when it's minus 7 degrees with my plunger trying to sort out the consequences of his actions. The hosepipe was frozen solid so I couldn't even play with my jetter thingy which is quite good fun

Are you not tempted to water jet DH in the cold temperatures when he does that? 🤣

Might teach him to think first? Or not.

I wouldn't pour any oil down the drain even if its liquid at room temperature. All oils and fats contribute to fatbergs in the sewerage pipes. Liquid oil should be put in a suitable container and binned (If it can't be disposed of at a recycling centre). Anything that will solidify should be binned and not poured away either

Sorry I misunderstood the pp about pouring liquid oil down. I thought they meant the drain.

I am a vegetarian so I don't end up with fat from meat so I don't think about it much tbh.

We don't use wipes so that's not a problem. He also does know not to flush them!

He's not normally selfish or inconsiderate. Which is why I'm so baffled by this. As I do think it obviously effects us, but has an impact on the sewage system. We used to live in London and there were always stories about fatbergs on the local news!

Some people just don't know some stuff. I have found a lot of people don't know some things. And I am always finding out things I didn't know.

Ignorance isn't always a crime.

Steady with those divorce papers.

Also he's well educated so I do think should understand the frankly basic science of oils solidifying in cold conditions. Apparently not...

I did talk to him more an send him an article from our water provider which details why it's a stupid idea. Obviously I needed the opinion of mumsnet too just to really prove my point!
He accepts it is stupid and said he's only done the thing with the wax melt a few times and we rarely have left over fat from cooking. Which is probably true, but still.

I feel like it has given me ammunition to get him to sort any drain problem ever occuring in this house though.

He's an idiot.

I keep cardboard egg boxes to pour stuff like this into. Liquid oil they'll absorb a lot of. Fats will set in them.

Probably best just to store it up as a credit for the next time you do something questionable through ignorance.

Unless you know everything of course. In that case I would demand my favourite takeaway as compensation.

Monumentally stupid.

Yes, olive oil does solidify at low temperatures, such as in a cold house or fridge.

This my job. I work in maintaining sewers. Do NOT pour ANY fat, oil or grease (FOG) down the sink or toilet. It all comes together in the sewers and create huge (expensive to remove) fat bergs. They stink far worse than human waste.

Also never put wax, coffee grinds, food, baby wipes, blue roll, cotton wool, ear buds, sanitry products, nappies or kitchen roll down the toilet and or drain.

Even if something says fine to flush, don't. It might flush, but it will clog the sewer.

Plus some[dont know about all] water companies try and work out which houses are casuing the clogging problems.