On the surface, the River Thames is the picture of serene commerce. Tourist barges putter past riverside cafés in Oxford, property developers crane over luxury flats in Putney, and freight moves silently through the Lock gates at Teddington.
When these fatbergs block the pipes, the raw sewage doesn't back up into the street—it goes into the river. London’s combined sewer overflows (CSOs) are designed to eject stormwater mixed with sewage into the Thames when the system gets too full. Thanks to commercial grease clogging the arteries, those CSOs are triggering even during light rain. There is a new villain on the banks of the Thames: tile adhesive and concrete washout . commercial drainage goring on thames
"People think flushing a wipe is harmless," says Sandra Kolve, a drainage engineer with 20 years on the river. "But commercial drainage isn't designed for volume. It’s designed for speed. When a restaurant closes at 11 PM and pours 50 liters of hot oil down the sink, it hits the cold brick sewer and solidifies instantly." On the surface, the River Thames is the
