Manure and sewage SOAP, but it's not a clean look

Country, about 22% of the sewage overflow, caused by the accumulation of hard, sticky substance gucky, called fog, short for "fats, oils and lubricants. But so far no one knows exactly what it was or how it formed.

This line is sewage in Salem, Oregon, covered with layers of fats, oils and lubricants or "fog."

This line is sewage in Salem, Oregon, covered with layers of fats, oils and lubricants or "fog."

A team of environmental engineers at North Carolina State University in Raleigh are working since 2004 to unravel the mystery. What they found a surprise: grey white, sand formations, stalagmites which look like large sewers along the walls actually soap. "But this is not ivory," said Joel Ducoste, Professor of environmental sciences at the University. "We are creating SOAP into the sewer, but that's not what you would like to wash their face". Ducoste is one of the co-authors of papers on this topic this week in the journal environmental science and Technology To chemists, all soaps, salts of fatty acids. That's when sludgy agonies sewerage is different from the sweet smell and hygienic, we use on our hands. Household soaps made from sodium or potassium salt, mixed with fat. But researchers found that calcium can also mix with fat to fatty acid salt chemically, SOAP and that is exactly what happens in the sewers. "It's pretty dense and hard, and it takes high pressure water or cutting heads cut through it," said Donald Smith, pre-processing utility manager for the city of Carey, N.C.Where, calcium, which makes this rancid grease in chemical soap remains a mystery. Ducoste notes that have calcium in the urine. But calcium can also be leached from the concrete pipes, if they are exposed to corrosion problem in many municipalities as a wastewater infrastructure. "We don't know yet," said Ducoste Panel of chemists, engineers and biotechnology experts hope that they can better handle on chemistry that happens, they can create a mathematical model enables municipalities to predict where capacity sewage lock can occur. most municipalities operate to reduce the amount of greasethat falls into their sewer systems, said Chris Collins, with the Department of environmental services of Salem, Oregon. Restaurants must have grease traps that most of the fats and oils from entering sewers, he says. When sewer cleaning crew finds accumulation, "they come and tell us and ask us to find out who in the area produces the lubrication system." and this may seem like a helmet for those who don't keep their pristine bathrooms, these deposits are not as soap build-up in the shower or clogged drain at home. MIST usually occurs in large drain pipes downstream concentration (typically restaurants) has plenty of fats, oils and lubricants in their effluent, says Smith for more information about Reprint permissions, visit our FAQ &. Report corrections and clarifications, contact standards editor Brent Jones. For consideration of publication in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and State to check. To view our corrections, go to corrections usatoday.com. We have updated the guidelines talk. Changes include a brief overview of the approval process and explains how to use the button "report abuse". For More Information.