Overview
- Severn Trent, Thames Water and Anglian Water have stepped up pre‑Christmas advice as festive cooking drives a seasonal rise in fats, oils and grease entering drains.
- Plumbing experts single out gravy as a prime culprit because it cools into a sticky layer inside pipes that traps debris and can start stubborn blockages.
- Officials urge households to let fats and gravy cool and bin them, wipe pans before washing, fit sink strainers and flush only pee, poo and paper.
- Thames Water cautions that hot, soapy water does not stop fats setting further down the system, where they can mix with wipes to form fatbergs and cause flooding.
- Scale of the problem remains large: Thames Water reports up to 75,000 blockages a year costing up to £40m, Severn Trent cleared nearly 30,000 last year and removed 20 million litres of FOG, and Anglian Water says most blockages are avoidable through simple behavior changes.