JEA warns customers of 'Fatberg' and how it could be costing customers money

JEA is warning customers about the major issues happening from people flushing things that should not be put down the toilet.

JEA says it receives hundreds of calls a year from customers who are not thinking before they flush.

“It causes pumps to clog up,” said Deryle Calhoun, vice president for water and wastewater systems for JEA.

It has a name. “Fatberg,” said Calhoun.

And it’s costing JEA hundreds of thousands a dollars a year.

“It’s hundreds of times a year that JEA responds to customer calls for service,” said Calhoun.

The facilities receive more than 80 million gallons of sewage and wastewater every day. It’s designed to dispose of human waste and toilet paper only, but there are things in it that aren’t supposed to be there.

“There’s all kinds of crazy stuff that goes down the drain,” said Calhoun.

Calhoun said they’ve found a number of bizarre things in their systems, including ping-pong balls, creepy doll heads, pizza rolls, parking tickets and a glass eye. You may laugh, but it can cause major damage to pipes and cost homeowners and business owner a lot of money.

“It’s customer impact, it’s financial impact, it’s environmental, it’s community impact,” said Calhoun.

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Cox Media Group