LONDON, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- One of the largest ever so-called "fatbergs" was discovered on Tuesday blocking the sewer of a British seaside town.
The 64-meter-long fatberg -- made up of toilet paper, wet wipes, and congealed cooking fats -- was revealed to be blocking the sewer in the resort town of Sidmouth in southwestern England by the local water firm South West Water.
"It is the largest discovered in our service history and will take our sewer team around eight weeks to dissect this monster in exceptionally challenging work conditions," said Andrew Roantree, director of wastewater at South West Water.
A fatberg forms like a snowball as wet-wipes flushed down toilets, fats, oil and grease congeal together, gradually forming a hard mass. Fatbergs can block mains sewers, some of which are even wide enough to drive a bus through.
South West Water has scheduled workers to remove the fatberg on Feb. 4, and the task should prove difficult.
The workers must wear a full breathing apparatus to carry out the removal and use special sewer jetting equipment to clear the obstacle as well as cut it up by hand.
Meanwhile, Roantree advised local residents "not to feed the fatberg" by pouring more fats down their drains.
