The Water Log: November 2023

Happy Fall from the Clean Water Team!

Sorry we missed you last month with our Water Log! It was a busy month full of in-person engagement opportunities and we hope that we saw you there.

Read on for a recap of what we have been up to this fall, and some helpful water quality reminders that are so important during this holiday season.

Sincerely,

Erika Hollis
Clean Water Director
Upstate Forever

October Event Recap

Spartanburg Soaring International Kite Festival

Our project team was thrilled to attend the 2023 Kite Festival to promote work being done on The Tyger River Recreation Region. On October 14th, members from UF, Bolton & Menk, Inc., and The Tyger River Foundation obtained lots of helpful feedback from the public on this project. Thank you to everyone who has participated by giving feedback through our survey/map and learning about this exciting project. Your participation is essential to shaping the future recreation opportunities in the Tyger River Watersheds!

Lake Robinson Day, 2023

UF's Clean Water Team was thrilled that we were able to participate in Greer CPW's Lake Robinson Day again this year. This outreach event is a great opportunity for educating the area's citizens about the Tyger River watersheds' critical waterways and to promote funding opportunities available with UF to improve water quality through septic repairs/replacements, agricultural projects, and land conservation. If you, or someone you know is interested in cost-share funding in this project area, check out our website!

Upstate Forever Annual Meeting

Last, but not least, our team closed out this busy month with Upstate Forever's Annual Meeting on October 22nd! Our annual meeting is a great opportunity for staff, members, and our board to come together to discuss our yearly progress. The Clean Water Team was happy to provide updates about our work and to gather with fellow conservationists from across the Upstate.

Holiday Reminders

It is once again that time of the year when we are all looking forward to cooking (and eating!) some delicious holiday foods. We want to remind you all to beware of F.O.G. (fats, oils, and grease) pollution!

F.O.G. is a common ingredient in a lot of holiday foods like cooking oil, salad dressing, butter/margarine/shortening, gravy, bacon/sausage, mayonnaise, peanut butter, and dairy products. When preparing dishes that contain these items, or when cleaning up, it is common to wash them down the drain. This can be harmful to your environment and to your wallet!

F.O.G. becomes a problem when it solidifies and accumulates around the insides of underground sewer pipes which can lead to blockages, backups, pipe bursts, and sewer overflows. The last thing any of us wants to deal with is one of these problems while enjoying the holiday season, so try to use the following list of suggestions to avoid these issues:

1. Do not pour F.O.G. down the garbage disposal, sink, or storm drain.
2. Instead, allow F.O.G. to cool and then seal it into a can or bottle and dispose of it at a local recycling center or household trash.
3. Remove remaining F.O.G. from pans and dishes by scraping and absorbing with a paper towel.
4. Keep in mind that hot water and soap do not eliminate F.O.G. because it will eventually cool, reform, and solidify in pipes.

Lastly, it is your responsibility as a homeowner or resident to avoid F.O.G. because if these issues happen to the pipes on your property, the expense to repair the system will fall on you, not your sewer provider or municipality!

Until next time 

Thank you for signing up to receive The Water Log, Upstate Forever’s email newsletter dedicated to Clean Water news, issues, and information. We appreciate your interest and dedication to safeguarding the Upstate’s water resources.  

If you have any questions about this topic or would like to learn about another Clean Water issue in a future edition, please contact me at ehollis@upstateforever.org.