130-tonne fatberg blocking London sewer ‘finally defeated’ after 9-week ‘battle’

A 250-meter long fatberg made up of congealed wet wipes, nappies, oils, sanitary items and condoms, which was blocking an east London sewer, has been cleared after a nine-week “battle.” It has finally been defeated after more than two months of “gut-wrenching work.”

Thames Water announced on Friday engineers had finally finished removing the berg, which weighed the same as 11 double-decker buses and measured more than two Wembley football pitches in length. Workers were forced to remove the last stretch manually, scooping the mass away with shovels and “brute force.”

The fatberg blocking an underground sewer in Whitechapel was thought to be one of the biggest fatbergs ever discovered in the capital. The 130-tonne fatberg was so large it damaged the one-metre high Victorian sewer, engineers said.

“Our work is finished, and the beast finally defeated after a mammoth effort from the team,” Thames Water waste network manager Alex Saunders said. “It was some of the most gut-wrenching work many would have seen on national television, and one of the reasons why the man-made Whitechapel fatberg captured the world’s imagination.”

“The good news is it has helped Thames Water and other water companies around the world get the message across that cooking fat, oils and grease should never go down the plughole. As you have seen, when combined with wet wipes, sanitary products, underwear, nappies, and anything else that shouldn’t be flushed, we’re faced with having to clear out these giant, rock-hard fatbergs,” he added.

READ MORE: Multimillion-pound battle against ‘fatbergs’ waged under London’s streets

Thames Water says its “Bin it - don’t block it” message is simple - “poo, pee and toilet paper are the only things that should ever be flushed down the toilet,” it says.