Sewer biomass cake? What do you think it is? 1

[CrazyHorse81]

I just watched the Shecklock Holmes movie, but it is not helping me figure this one out like I expected it would.

The attached photos are specimens of the inside pipe walls of a variable grade sewer system (built in 1993). In some parts of the sewer line it completely blocked the pipe and caused backups and overflows in the system. What could this be? Where does the yellow color come from? See the black spots? Is this like a potable water bio-film equivalent but for a variable grade sewer?

It is soft, flakes off in layers and crumbles very easily, slimy outer layers and moist inside layers.

 

[bimr]

FOG is what that material is known as. Seems to be an appropriate name when you are talking about sherlock holmes.

Fat, oil and grease in sewer pipes, referred to as FOG, create pollution problems in many communities. FOG enters sewer pipes through restaurant, residential and commercial sink drains. Once in the sewer, FOG sticks to the pipe and thickens. FOG can build up and eventually block the entire pipe. Blockages in sewer pipes can send sewage backward – out of manholes into streets and rivers, or up floor drains in homes.

http://www.dwsd.org/cust/fog_brochure_bus_web.pdf

 

[CrazyHorse81]

O.K. so that is what FOG looks like in a sewer system! Just to clarify...this section of the sewer system only services residential homes. It would be beneficial to install effluent filters in the septic tanks...of course after cleaning the pipes. And to educate the residents about FOGs.