Tampa urges residents to keep fat, oil, grease, and wet wipes out of drains

Share
City of Tampa storm sewer drain cover. By Seán Kinane/WMNF News
City of Tampa storm sewer drain cover. By Seán Kinane/WMNF News

Listen:

This hurricane season, the City of Tampa is urging residents to keep leftover fat, oil, grease, and especially wet wipes out of the drain.

At a wastewater plant in Tampa, a technician removes a blob of grey debris from a bar screen.

Bar screens are filters that keep materials such as wipes, rags, and sand from entering the primary wastewater treatment process.

Events like tropical storms and hurricanes cause higher-than-usual wastewater flows, and at times, wastewater overflow. This leads to plugged pipes or public health risks for residents and the environment.

Flushing non-biodegradable items, even so-called “flushable” wet wipes, contributes to the problem.

Eric Weiss is the director of Wastewater for the City of Tampa. He says the wipes accumulate in pipes and lead to a blockage, called a fatberg. He says these can cause sewage overflows and result in expensive repairs.

The city encourages people to dispose of wet wipes in the trash. They also encourage people to not pour grease down the sink or toilet, and report sewer overflows to the city.

 

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

Richard Corcoran
New College alumni group ‘appalled’ at recent school controversies

Listen: New College of Florida, the small Sarasota school that...

The Scoop: Fri. May 23, 2025, Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF

WMNF headlines including hurricane season, Tampa protests, Pine Island Preserve...

COVID-19 closures
Gulfport bans beach smoking

The Gulfport beach ban prohibits cigarettes and other tobacco products,...

Ahead of the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, Tampa protestors prepare to rally again

Listen: This weekend will mark the fifth anniversary of the...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

The Rhythm Revival
The Rhythm Revival