Here’s something Colorado Springs Utilities would like you to keep in mind as you drain the turkey pan:

Just as eating too much greasy food can plug a person’s arteries, pouring fat, oil and grease down the drain can clog the city’s wastewater pipes.

Those clogs can cause backups that damage homes and businesses and send sewage into creeks and streams.

Utilities has been working to get the word out for several years, and it’s paying off.

“We’ve seen a big improvement in the number of main blockages due to grease,” Utilities spokesman Dave Grossman said. “Before we started the program, we had 10 to 12 clogs due to grease each year. It’s down to four in 2006, and four so far in 2007.”

The city-owned utility first targeted restaurants, which are more apt to wash large quantities of oil and grease into the sewer system. Grossman said officials visit restaurants, make presentations and provide posters and fliers to remind restaurant workers.

“The greater challenge is residential because of the large number of customers that need to be informed,” he said.

Kim Caltrider, Utilities senior environmental technician, said kitchen grease solidifies between 80 to 100 feet down the line.

“A lot of folks’ service lines are longer than that,” he said. “It’s certainly to their

advantage to keep a coffee can where they do their cooking and pour off any liquid oil or grease into that empty coffee can. When it’s full, cap it and put it in the trash.”

Grossman said the city’s policy calls for the city to pay for damage to a home or business when a sewer main backs up.

But if the backup is caused by a plugged service line, it’s the property owner’s responsibility.

Grossman said the city’s success in reducing backups also stems from a rotating program that cleans pipes every two to four years.

Caltrider said the west-side’s pipes tend to cause more problems, largely because some were installed in the 1800s.

Besides the cleaning program, Utilities workers track clogs by area of town to determine if additional preventive maintenance is needed.

Said Grossman: “The key is in prevention. Through cleaning and education we can stop all overflows from happening.”

GREASE TIPS

Colorado Springs Utilities provided the following advice:

- Never flush or wash down the drain such items as kitchen grease, oil, fats, paper towels, sanitary napkins, kitty litter, disposable diapers and grinds, such as eggshells, fruit and vegetable skins.

- Pour grease into a tin can and put it in the trash.

- Wipe greasy pans with a paper towel.

- Never put hazardous chemicals, such as paint, varnish, fertilizer, photo solution or paint thinner, down a drain.