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Massive London 'fatberg' to be turned into museum exhibit

By Jacopo Prisco, CNN

Updated 1022 GMT (1822 HKT) January 19, 2018

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A giant "fatberg" was removed from these London sewers in late 2017. Most of it was converted to biofuel, but a few fragments will soon be exhibited at the Museum of London.
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A giant "fatberg" was removed from these London sewers in late 2017. Most of it was converted to biofuel, but a few fragments will soon be exhibited at the Museum of London.
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The fatberg, a congealed lump of grease, fat and non-flushable items such as wet wipes and condoms, sticks to sewer walls and can become as hard as concrete.
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The fatberg, a congealed lump of grease, fat and non-flushable items such as wet wipes and condoms, sticks to sewer walls and can become as hard as concrete.
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Thames Water, the municipal utility which performed the removal, says it took nine weeks and that it spends $1.4 million a month to clear blockages in London sewers.
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Thames Water, the municipal utility which performed the removal, says it took nine weeks and that it spends $1.4 million a month to clear blockages in London sewers.
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A sewer technician holds a fatberg in a London sewer in 2014.
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A sewer technician holds a fatberg in a London sewer in 2014.
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Among the components of fatbergs are grease, cooking fats, nappies, wet wipes, but also dangerous materials such as lights bulbs and hypodermic needles.
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Among the components of fatbergs are grease, cooking fats, nappies, wet wipes, but also dangerous materials such as lights bulbs and hypodermic needles.
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Fatbergs form because the fat, cooling down, becomes a solid and lumps around items such as nappies and wet wipes. The mixture then sticks to sewer walls and hardens, which makes removal a tough job.
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Fatbergs form because the fat, cooling down, becomes a solid and lumps around items such as nappies and wet wipes. The mixture then sticks to sewer walls and hardens, which makes removal a tough job.
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Thames Water has launched a <a href="http://binit.thameswater.co.uk/" target="_blank">campaign</a> to educate the public about items which can't be flushed.
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Thames Water has launched a campaign to educate the public about items which can't be flushed.
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Whitechapel fatberg 2 (c) Thames WaterWhitechapel fatberg (c) Museum of LondonFat_Clogged_Pipe (c) Thames WaterGettyImages-460462748GettyImages-460462732GettyImages-460462746GettyImages-460462730

Story highlights

  • 800-foot long 'fatberg' found under London
  • Most was turned into biodiesel
  • Fragments will become museum exhibit

(CNN)What used to be a disgusting subterranean mass of congealed waste -- also known as a fatberg -- will soon be on display at a London museum.

The peculiar exhibit is but a fragment of one of the largest such objects ever found, measuring 820 feet long and weighing 130 tons, as much as 11