Raffaella Villa - Research uses AI to stop fatbergs blocking sewers

Grease, oils and fats poured down the drains build up to create fatbergs – hard deposits which block underground sewers, cause flooding and are a risk to public health and the environment.

As climate change increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, such as heavy rainfall and flooding, fatbergs will put more pressure on sewer and wastewater systems.

In the UK alone, dealing with fatbergs costs £20million every year as water companies send teams in to break down the hard deposits.

Dealing with fatbergs increases energy consumption in sewage treatment facilities, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, and the resource-intensive clean-up methods which can indirectly contribute to climate change.

Proper waste disposal and wastewater treatment can help reduce the environmental impact of fatbergs by decreasing energy use, preventing sewage overflow, and minimizing water pollution.

Professor Raffaella Villa, an environmental engineer, is researching how the fatberg deposits grow bigger over time, and is using AI and image processing to make that clean-up process more efficient and help mitigate their contribution to climate change.

The AI also helps identify fatbergs at an early stage, where they could be simply washed away, before they became hard deposits and need chemicals and drilling to remove A process that is much more expensive and much worse for the environment.