'Monster' Whitechapel sewer fatberg could go to Museum of London
The Museum of London wants to display part of the disgusting 130-ton mass of wet wipes and fat - but would you want to see it?
Wednesday 13 September 2017 18:57, UK
Part of a ginormous fatberg currently clogging a sewer in east London could end up in a museum.
The Museum of London says it wants to obtain part of the 130-ton blockage of oil, fat, nappies and wet wipes discovered in Whitechapel.
Director Sharon Ament said adding the fatberg to its collection "would raise questions about how we live today and also inspire our visitors to consider solutions to the problems of growing metropolises".
The museum says it hopes to obtain a cross section of the fatberg, but has not yet decided how it would be displayed.
The disgusting blockage is currently being removed from the Victorian sewer by Thames Water, with workers using high-powered hoses to break it down before it can be sucked out of the tunnel.
"It's basically like trying to break up concrete," said Matt Rimmer, head of Thames Water's waste networks.
"It's a total monster and taking a lot of manpower and machinery to remove as it's set hard."
Removal of the blockage, which is 250 meters long, is expected to take several weeks.