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DON'T FOG YOUR DRAIN!

KEEP HOLIDAY FOG OUT OF YOUR KITCHEN SINK

Turkey Day is just around the corner and Rancho Murieta Community Services District encourages you to keep your sink fat-free this holiday season.

Throughout the year, especially during the holidays, people pour the by-products of cooking down the sink drain. Fats, cooking oils and grease (FOG) can coat and clog pipes which can cause sewer lines to back up into homes. That could mean costly clean-up and repair costs.

FOG can also cause blockages further down sewer lines. And that can result in overflows or sewage back-ups into yards or streets, creating a public health risk.        

Oil making its way to wastewater treatment plants can disrupt the treatment process and increase the need for maintenance.

To prevent these problems, the District encourages you to dispose of your leftover FOG properly. Here are some suggestions that many of your neighbors may already be following:

   *Do not put fats, oil, grease or greasy food down the garbage disposal.

   *Place small amounts of fat, oil, and grease in a container with a tight-sealing lid, put the container in a trash bag, tie the bag shut, and dispose of it in a trash receptacle.

    *Mix cooking oils with an absorbent material such as coffee grounds, place in a lidded container, and dispose of in a trash receptacle.

    *If you are soaking a greasy pan, first pour off grease into a container. Then pace paper towels over the drain basket to catch grease and food as you pour the soaking water down the drain.

     *Deep fat fryers for turkeys leave a large amount of oil. Solidify the grease by mixing it with an absorbent material such as cat litter. You can also soak up excess oil with newspaper and then place it in the trash.