Fat, Oil, Greases (FOG) and Unflushables Project (Southern Water): PRESENTATION ONLY
Gabos, E., Southern Water, UK
(free)
Abstract
Sewers were designed to take away only human waste, but people in developed counties flush fat, oil, wipes and sanitary products down the drains in large quantities causing sewer blockages, internal floods and sometimes pollution to the environment. Based on industry experience at least 65% of these could be prevented by changes in customer behavior.
This project focuses on reducing the number of blockages and internal flooding incidents as a result of changed customer behaviour, awareness and pro-active sewer maintenance.
Using data analysis of historic blockages the geographical target areas (hotspots) were selected.
Different methods are used for the education of domestic customers or food service establishments (FSEs).
The project takes a personal encounter approach towards domestic customers. However food businesses are contacted either personally or through their headquarters.
When visiting customers, nearby manholes are visually checked to identify existing sewer issues and necessary repairs are ordered immediately before they cause blockages or flooding.
The above mentioned activities are supported by a traditional and social media campaign carried out by the in house communications team.
Halfway through the project the findings underline the effectiveness of the personal approach. A customer research carried out in 2017 showed 5% increase in awareness compared to the baseline results.
There was a 25% improvement in the percentage of repeat offenders among food businesses after our visits.
The behaviour change created by the project contributes to decreased customer nuisance, to a cleaner and healthier environment. The lessons learnt will be shared with other water companies for potential application.
