Thames Water releases updated 12 Days of Christmas video as an “anti-fatberg” message

If you're the sort of person for whom jolly Christmas songs can all get a bit sickly then Thames Water might just have the festive message for you. 

 

The utilities company – which has spent much of the year battling fatbergs in the city's sewers – has recorded a reworked version of the 12 Days of Christmas, reminding us not to block drains by pouring fat from roast turkeys and potatoes.  

 

A video has been released of the song – you can watch it here, if you have the stomach for it. 

 

 

But there's a serious point to it all, says Thames Water. More than one third of the UK pour leftover cooking fat and grease down sinks contributing to the 6.7m homes blocked each year. 

 

It estimates that two Olympic swimming pools of fat will be poured down British sinks this year. 

 

Danny Brackley, London sewer flusher and choir leader, said: “What we lack in tunefulness, we make up for in enthusiasm – and when you hear us, you’ll realise we needed a lot of enthusiasm. This is an important message, fatbergs aren’t just massive lumps that grow in sewers, the majority block domestic drains after you’ve poured leftover turkey fat down the sink.

 

“People think washing down hot water and washing-up liquid helps, but it does nothing. It’s a total myth.

“There’s only one way to save yourself from a flooded kitchen and that is to bin it – don’t block it.”

 

To support the campaign Waitrose and Sainsbury’s supermarkets will be handing out “fat traps” to customers buying pre-ordered turkeys.