Arteries not only things clogged today

By Tony Cook (contact)

Thursday, Nov. 23, 2006 | 6:56 a.m.

When most people think of Thanksgiving, turkey and football come to mind.

But for the 26 members of the Clark County Reclamation District's sewer system maintenance team, something else comes to mind: clogged pipes.

That's because with Thanksgiving comes grease, cooking oil and fat - the cholesterol of Clark County's sewer system.

And when the feasting is done, people such as Jeffray Caldwell get stuck cleaning it up.

With a high velocity water truck capable of firing water at 2,600 pounds per square inch, Caldwell and others on the team will have to deal with the grease, oil and lard dumped down drains and into the district's 2,700 miles of sewer pipeline.

That means in addition to sweet potatoes and pumpkin pies, Caldwell, the standby shift supervisor on duty this Thanksgiving, also has on his mind manhole lids popping off their collars thanks to sewer lines stopped up by a caked mix of hardened grease, eggshells and coffee grinds.

He offers a metaphor: "Have you ever seen toothpaste come out of a tube?"

He also offers some advice to those tempted to dump skillet or deep-fried turkey grease down their drains.

"Can it," he said. "Don't rinse it."

The holiday season is an especially troublesome time for the district, which is charged with treating, disinfecting and reclaiming the 96 million gallons of wastewater that flows through the agency's system every day.

Or at least, it's supposed to flow.

With population growth, the water reclamation district has seen annual stoppages rise from 64 in 2004 to 79 last year, a 23 percent increase. Most of that increase came from grease-related backups, which jumped from 27 in 2004 to 41 in 2005, a 51 percent increase.

"This was not an issue 10 years ago," said Marty Flynn, spokesman for the district. "It simply comes with more people cooking."

The stoppages are a major health and safety hazard. In addition to kicking up fecal matter and germ-laden filth, backups caused by grease can flood roadways with slick material that's difficult to clean up.

That's why the district kicked off its first public awareness campaign about the grease problem last week.

In addition to public service announcements, the district has launched an educational Web site, www.paininthedrain.com .

The district also is working with Republic Services, the local trash hauler, to provide several holiday drop-off locations for used cooking oil. Those include the district's two treatment facilities at 5857 E. Flamingo Road and 8260 W. Flamingo Road, Republic's recycling center at 333 W. Gowan Road, the Henderson Transfer Station at 560 Cape Horn and a transfer station at 4455 N. Sloan Road. Hours are 8 a.m. to noon Friday and Saturday this week.