Before You Feast, Make a Plan for Your Grease: CAN IT, COOL IT, TOSS IT

Laurel, Md. – November 26, 2024 –There’s a lot of planning that goes into a Thanksgiving day feast, so plan ahead and follow these simple steps to avoid a sewer backup in your home:

1. CAN IT: Pour grease into an empty soup can,
2. COOL IT: Put the can in the freezer or refrigerator until the grease hardens, and
3. TOSS IT: Throw it in the trash once the can is full.

Never pour grease down the drain. Grease hardens inside pipes and forms a blockage, which can cause a messy sewage backup in your home or from a manhole. Sewage overflows from manholes result in an environmental hazard with wastewater spilling into creeks, streams and, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay. Below are pictures of WSSC Water sewer pipes filled with grease.

Nearly one-third (31 percent) of all sewer overflows in the WSSC Water wastewater collection system are caused by grease. 

Can the grease and keep food scraps, poultry skin, dressing or vegetable peels from going down the drain. And remember, hot water is NOT going to prevent a blockage. The water may push the grease and food scraps further inside the pipe, but eventually, grease will harden inside a pipe.

WSSC Water customers can get more information, including a free Can the Grease lid, by visiting www.wsscwater.com/canthegrease. 

Media Note: B-roll of grease inside pipes is available for download here. You can see the large blobs of grease inside the pipe, and at the end of the video, you see the pipe nearly blocked by grease. WSSC Water personnel are also available for interviews.