A piece of a fatberg that was found in the sewers of London has become one of the most popular exhibits at the Museum of London this year. A fatberg is a huge blob of congealed fat, grease and debris that accumulates in the sewer systems, and which can cause major plumbing, sewage and environmental damage and costs.

The fatberg featured in the London museum was cut off from a much larger fatberg discovered in the sewers of the city that measured in at a shocking 820 ft long and weighing in at over 130 tons. It was only discovered after teams went down into the sewers in search of the cause of drain blockages about which residents had been complaining. Emergency crews spent nine weeks working to break up the massive glob using drills and other methods.

The process behind the growth a fatberg usually starts in the kitchen when grease and oil are poured down a drain after cooking. The fat slides through the pipes of the home or apartment, leaving a layer of greasy buildup that overtime constricts the movement of water through the pipes. Eventually, the homeowner or tenant will notice that water flow is sluggish, or completely blocked.

When the fat gets to the sewers it mixes with all the wastewater, leftover grease, debris, and chemicals and biological components from other peoples’ homes. The resulting congealed buildup grows until it becomes a fatberg, which can eventually result in a large scale failure of a city’s sewage system.

According to a recent review of the subject, fatbergs are believed to be the cause of about 47% of the up to 36,000 sewer overflows that happen in the U.S each year.

There are some basic preventative measures that individuals can take which go a long way in preventing fatbergs, according to Vietzke Trenchless plumbing experts. They recommend not pouring any grease or oil down the drain. Instead it should be poured into a jar and tossed in the trash, or wiped with a paper towel and then tossed.  Care should be taken not to flush or wash down the drain any known drain cloggers such as hair, dental floss, fruit rinds, baby wipes, egg shells and starchy foods.

If the message reaches every home, featuring a fatberg in a museum may be a relic of the past.