As of late September 2026, the skillet in this Houston kitchen still gets the treatment it always has: pour off the bacon grease, run the tap as hot as it goes, add a squirt of dish soap and watch it all swirl away. I figured the hot water kept the grease moving until it was somebody else’s problem.
Houston Public Works says it’s very much the city’s problem, and often mine too. On its Protect Our Pipes page, the department says 70% of sewer overflows in Houston are caused by clogs from fats, oils and grease poured down the drain and wipes flushed down toilets.
What Houston Public Works says
The city doesn’t treat a little grease as harmless; it says even a little bit poured down the drain can cause a bigger issue. Its rule for what goes down the sink is short: “Only the 3P’s (Pee, Poo, and Toilet Paper), soap, and water should be flushed or washed down the drain.” Soap and water are on that list. The grease you’re chasing with them isn’t.
Why hot water doesn’t fix it
Sewer utilities spell out the hot-water part. A Maryland county’s wastewater office says: “Running hot water does not solve the problem; it often carries grease farther down the line, where it cools and hardens.” The same office says dish soap may break grease apart for a while but doesn’t get rid of it.
Houston’s own crews see where that ends. The department says “The colder weather causes grease to quickly solidify while in the pipes,” and each year, when temperatures decrease, it responds to twice as many sewer overflows caused by grease, oils and fats…