What will happen to your drain when 50 kilos of fondant is poured in?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the hypothetical scenario of pouring 50 kilos of fondant down a drain, exploring the potential consequences and experiences related to similar incidents. Participants share insights on the nature of fondant, its properties, and the implications of such an event in both practical and humorous contexts.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Experiential/applied

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants describe fondant as a type of sugar decoration used on cakes, noting its application while hot and its tendency to solidify.
  • There are concerns raised about the clogging potential of fondant in plumbing systems, with some participants suggesting it could lead to ruptured pipes.
  • One participant shares a personal anecdote about a similar incident involving cement clogging drains in a laboratory, highlighting the challenges faced in clearing such blockages.
  • A question is posed about the possibility of using digestive enzymes to break down the fondant in the drain.
  • Several participants recount experiences with plumbing issues, including a significant blockage caused by fondant that affected a local pumping station.
  • Humorous remarks are made about the situation, including references to the mess created and the aftermath of the incident in a food-production facility.
  • There are discussions about the responsibilities of staff in managing production processes and the implications of mishaps in a food-related context.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the exact outcomes of pouring fondant down the drain, with various viewpoints on its effects and the seriousness of the situation. Multiple competing views remain regarding the management of such incidents and the responsibilities of staff involved.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express uncertainty about the definitions and implications of fondant, as well as the operational procedures in place for handling production materials. There are unresolved questions about the effectiveness of potential solutions to the clogging issue.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to those involved in food production, plumbing, or anyone curious about the practical implications of handling large quantities of viscous materials in industrial settings.

wolram
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50 kilos of fondant is tiped down the drain? 10 points for part 1 of answer,
20 if the the end result is predicted.
 
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2 questions.
What is fondant?

What is tiped?

Truly, America and England are two countries separated by a common language!
 
Integral said:
2 questions.
What is fondant?

What is tiped?

Truly, America and England are two countries separated by a common language!

No they aint, it is just that i have an inability to spell much to my shame, fondant is the sugar decoration on many cakes, usualy applied hot as it sets,
if you have a squiggly pattern on your doughnut a pound to a penny it is created with fondant.
 
We have fondant in the US, just most people call it frosting, though it's technically a specific type of frosting.

So, wollie, how far did it get through the pipes before cooling and solidifying? All that wasted fondant! :cry:
 
wolram said:
50 kilos of fondant is tiped down the drain? 10 points for part 1 of answer,
20 if the the end result is predicted.
Well, I would imagine that it would set up at some point and clog the pipe. The pipe could rupture.

It reminds me of the time I was on a job to unclog a pipe in one of the laboratories in the Civil Engineering department of a university. In the laboratory, students experimented with cements and concrete, including composites with organics compounds (epoxies). The student would clean up their buckets and rinse them in the sink.

As you might well imagine, the drain was clogged with - cement.

We didn't know it at first, so we tried a snake (a mechanized coil). That didn't work.

Then we tried an auger - that didn't work either. The sharp end, which could bore through most substances encountered in a pipe, because damaged - broken and twisted.

Finally, we had to dismantle pipe, and that is when we found the cement and expoxy. :rolleyes:

Policy was changed to disallow rinsing the various cements and cement/epoxies into the laboratory sink.
 
Are there any digestive enzymes or such that you could just pour down there to 'eat' the stuff?
 
Wolram, what have you been up to now? :bugeye:
 
It was almost as Astro said only a lot messier, i got a call about water coming out of a drain, when i arrived there were two people with buckets
trying to bail the place out, when i noticed there was loo paper in the water
i told them to leave it and went to phone dyno rod, next thing the loos started over flowing when flushed and solid matter was observed floating about the factory, dyno rod arrived and did what they do, the water drained away and a huge clean up went into swing, every thing was all most spik and span when the waters started to rise again, the next 3hrs was taken up with dyno rod having no success clearing the bolockage, i had hired a pump to keep levels down, trouble was i had to put the out let pipe through a window as it was not long enough to reach the main sewer, next we had a water tanker with a high pressure (snake) to blast the blockage out, gradually large lumps of white stuff started coming up in the main sewer and the factory started to drain, a huge sigh of relief all round and second clean up starts, i am just about to put the drain cover back on when i notice it is filling up, we lifted the cover in the road down stream from the factory, causing a bit of traffic chaos as it was in the middle of the road, that was allso filling up, so now the whole estate had no drainage, our fondant had blocked the local pumping station.
 
Hooray! :smile:


I guess the last bit was just the icing on the cake.
 
  • #10
brewnog said:
Hooray! :smile:


I guess the last bit was just the icing on the cake.

People were driving to the near by garage to use the loo, the pumping station was cleared by midnight, all the lino in the office area had to be replaced, every one spent hours cleaning EVERYTHING in the factory,
the grass went grey, and the management turned up the next day to
take control of the situation , one of them learned some new words, i felt
ill for a couple of days.
 
  • #11
brewnog said:
I guess the last bit was just the icing on the cake.
Aaaarrrrrgggghhhhh...

wolram said:
every one spent hours cleaning EVERYTHING in the factory
Not precisely the sort of accident that one likes to think of as occurring in a food-production facility. :rolleyes:
 
  • #12
Danger said:
Not precisely the sort of accident that one likes to think of as occurring in a food-production facility. :rolleyes:
Watch for that big sale on cakes in the very near future! :biggrin:
 
  • #13
How come i never get any sympathy for all the trials and tribulations i have to suffer:frown:
 
  • #14
Wooly you've STILL not told me which cakemakers this is! Are they based in South Brummajum?
 
  • #15
wolram said:
It was almost as Astro said only a lot messier, i got a call about water coming out of a drain, when i arrived there were two people with buckets
trying to bail the place out, when i noticed there was loo paper in the water
i told them to leave it and went to phone dyno rod, next thing the loos started over flowing when flushed and solid matter was observed floating about the factory, dyno rod arrived and did what they do, the water drained away and a huge clean up went into swing, every thing was all most spik and span when the waters started to rise again, the next 3hrs was taken up with dyno rod having no success clearing the bolockage, i had hired a pump to keep levels down, trouble was i had to put the out let pipe through a window as it was not long enough to reach the main sewer, next we had a water tanker with a high pressure (snake) to blast the blockage out, gradually large lumps of white stuff started coming up in the main sewer and the factory started to drain, a huge sigh of relief all round and second clean up starts, i am just about to put the drain cover back on when i notice it is filling up, we lifted the cover in the road down stream from the factory, causing a bit of traffic chaos as it was in the middle of the road, that was allso filling up, so now the whole estate had no drainage, our fondant had blocked the local pumping station.

Gee, Woolie, sorry to hear about your misfortune at work.

Were you the bloke who put the fondant down the drain?


I don't think I can top brewies comment about 'icing on the cake' :smile: , but I was going to ask if your companies management expects people to eat this stuff. :biggrin:

Well, at least the pipe didn't burst (I didn't see that mentioned), but it sure gummed up the works. :biggrin:
 
  • #16
Astronuc said:
Gee, Woolie, sorry to hear about your misfortune at work.

Were you the bloke who put the fondant down the drain?:

Not me, the cleaners decided the kettle needed cleaning but some idiot had left it full, it was full ready for the next days production, it takes ages to heat.
 
  • #17
wolram said:
Not me, the cleaners decided the kettle needed cleaning but some idiot had left it full, it was full ready for the next days production, it takes ages to heat.
Time to review process outlines and instructions for production and in-process control.

1. Don't leave the kettle full!

2. And if it is (i.e. if someone fails to follow instructions) - report situation to responsible production supervisor or manager.

In-process Control! :rolleyes:

Does you company use TQM or CQI?


Were the cleaners employess of your company, or are they empolyees of an outside contractor?
 
  • #18
Astronuc said:
Time to review process outlines and instructions for production and in-process control.

1. Don't leave the kettle full!
Hmm...my interpretation is that the kettle was supposed to be full, but the cleaners were the ones who thought otherwise. Why would you dump a full kettle without being specifically told to do so? What a waste of icing! :cry: I'm so sorry you had to witness and endure that nightmare, Wollie. Spilled fondant, unlike spilled milk, apparently is something to cry over!
 
  • #19
Astronuc said:
Time to review process outlines and instructions for production and in-process control.

1. Don't leave the kettle full!

2. And if it is (i.e. if someone fails to follow instructions) - report situation to responsible production supervisor or manager.

In-process Control! :rolleyes:

Does you company use TQM or CQI?


Were the cleaners employess of your company, or are they empolyees of an outside contractor?

Oh boy, where can i start, maybe with a manger that never leaves his office, a hygene manager who does not know that electrics/pnematics can not be washed, a production staff with 70% not speaking english,
big notices every where about all manner of things in three different languages that are totally ignored, take that all on board and we are the top performer in the group and made more profit than the other two sites put together.
 
  • #20
I'm starting to hope that you don't export this stuff. :-p
 

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