Stay clear of Holiday FOG

It’s that time of year! Presents underneath the tree, colorful lights decorating Automobile Alley, fudge and peppermint candy everywhere, the Bricktown Christmas tree lit in its full glory, Mariah Carey on the radio – and perhaps best of all, turkeys, hams and all manner of tasty casseroles in the oven. Unfortunately, some of what makes some of our holiday favorite foods so good are also what could turn into a problem for your plumbing. Make sure the fats, oils and grease – aka “FOG” – associated with Christmastime cooking stay out of your home’s drains. Besides causing potential plumbing problems, you could contribute to annoying, time-consuming (not to mention super-smelly) blockages in the overall sewer system, and nobody wants that, especially during the holidays.

“People tend to think that small amounts of oil or grease don’t matter,” said Michelle Aumiller, Pretreatment Coordinator with the Oklahoma City Utilities Wastewater Quality Division. “But they can build up over time and cause significant problems by clogging household plumbing or the City’s sewer lines.”

So when cooking with some of these fats, oils and greases, what’s the best way to deal with them? The city recommends a couple different tactics. First, if you have liquid FOG, you can pour that into an old glass jar or other container with a lid and store it in the freezer. When full, throw that sucker in your trash and start again with a new one. Another thing you can do that really helps is using paper towels to wipe out fats, oils and grease from dishes and cookware before washing. You can just toss the used towels in the trash – as well as any solid food remnants. All these things can help keep nastiness out of your home’s drainage systems and the larger city sewer system.

“Throwing fats, oils and grease in the trash is an easy way to avoid expensive plumbing visits and help prevent blockages in the City’s wastewater system,” said Aumiller.

Aumiller notes that while FOG is a year-round problem, the holidays offer a good opportunity to remind people to be careful. “People tend to cook larger meals and use more grease and fat in their holiday cooking,” she said.

Some of the best ingredients for holiday cooking but also some of the potentially worst clogging agents to watch out for include butter, shortening, margarine, meat trimmings, poultry skin, cheese, milk cream, sour cream, cooking oils, salad dressing, gravy, and mayonnaise.

For more information on how you can protect your pipes from FOG and other contaminants, visit www.okc.gov/water.