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As the holiday cooking frenzy begins, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Utilities reminds you to Can the Grease. Everyone plays a part in preventing sewer overflows in their home or business. And everyone pays when there is a sewer backup.

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality fines utilities thousands of dollars every year for sanitary sewer overflows. Running hot water down the drain does not help, even if you add dish soap.

Fortunately, it’s easy to avoid the mess and expense of raw sewage backups. Just pour or scrape cooking oil into a can, let it cool and then toss it in the trash.

Can the grease — Lat year, fats, oil and grease caused nearly 15 percent of blockages and overflows. You can protect your home, the sewer system and the environment by never disposing of these hazards down any drain. To learn more and download flyers and coloring books in English and Spanish, got to cityofws.org/grease.

WSFC Utilities maintains and monitors the 1,825-mile wastewater system and 2,330 miles of water distribution mains. Your assistance is crucial to reduce the costly impacts of fats, oil and grease.

It is equally important to remember No Wipes in Pipes. No matter what the package says, you should never flush wipes of any kind. They do not disintegrate and caused more than 15 percent of local sewage backups in the past year. Throw them in the trash to avoid overflowing sewage in your home and expensive damage to wastewater system pumps.

If you have a sewer backup, contact CityLink using any method on cityofws.org/citylink. Subscribe to Alert Center and News Flash for Utilities updates at cityofws.org/notifyme.