Rosalia works to eliminate FOGs

Jana Mathia, Gazette Reporter | Nov 02, 20170

The town of Rosalia is working on an ordinance to keep unsuitable items from being flushed down local drains.

The no FOG (fats, oils, grease) ordinance is timely given the new lines the town has installed, but the council has been researching it for a while, checking with other towns and how their ordinances are worded.

“We don’t have to entirely re-invent the wheel, thankfully,” said Nan Konishi, Rosalia mayor.

This past spring, the town pulled out a “grease log” from the pipes of a resident who had their water back up twice. The town’s old pipes are of clay and it is common for roots to infiltrate them. When hot grease is poured down a drain, it cools and builds up on the sides of the pipe or clings to the roots.

“Once that’s there, it’s not easy to get out,” Konishi said. The grease, oil and fat continue to build up, compacting until it is very dense and water can not get through.

“It’s like brick,” Konishi said of the grease logs. “It’s solid as a rock.” The more roots, the worse it is.

These blocks can not be flushed out by town equipment. Someone with bigger and stronger methods has to be brought in.

“That gets costly,” the mayor noted.

Of high concern is the presence of needles and syringes in the pipes. While FOGs can cling to anything, including wipes, latex gloves and feminine products–none of which should be flushed in the first place–the needles and syringes can cause more complicated blocks which town crews have to clear out manually.

“That kind of stuff can destroy the whole works,” Konishi said.

The ordinance will include the citation and fine language so the town’s code enforcement officer can issue warnings and tickets to offenders.

“It’s pretty easy to track these kind of clogs back to its source,” Konishi said.