There are many nuances to commercial grease trap maintenance. It’s amazing how technology and science have re-sculpted the food industry. Making and serving food is no picnic. It involves careful manipulation of ingredients and processes that make each food item or dish unique and enticing. There are so many innovative food products that are out in the market such as egg substitutes, skim milk, sausages, cheeses, ice cream, bread, cookie dough, chocolate bars, and hotdogs, among others. These food products get manufactured at a steady pace because of the constant demand for them. The more fast-paced life becomes, the more ready-to-eat everything is, the more complex the food processing procedure gets. And as more and more food establishments and facilities come up with more complex dishes or food items, the more FOG (fats, oils, grease) is produced.
The United States, known for the abundance of food establishments, is suffering from the FOG crisis. FOG is constantly being produced every single day so that the food demands of Americans could be met. It isn’t an easy fact to deal with especially for food establishment owners. They are constantly facing lawsuits and paying hefty fines because of the FOG overflow that takes place within their premises. The government has already set a limit to the amount of FOG that could mix in with the wastewater. But even if the limit is set, inability to monitor and maintain the grease trap still leads to unacceptable FOG levels in the untreated effluent.
FOG can be considered as a setback of progress in the food industry. Animal and vegetable fats, oils, and grease are used in the production of food so it’s already understood that fats, oils, and grease are also the major by-products that mainly cause problems. To help tone down the FOG crisis, the government has also come up with the pretreatment or grease ordinance that requires the owners of food establishments to have grease traps installed in their facilities. The owners need to secure a permit for the traps, to monitor and to maintain them properly. Part of the maintenance is to inspect the traps every week and pump them out every month (for small indoor grease traps) or every quarter (for large outdoor grease traps). To have the grease traps pumped out every week can be very costly but most food establishments do this to make sure that their traps do not overflow. If the grease traps don’t overflow, there will be no lawsuits or fines to deal with.
Commercial grease trap maintenance is a must considering the harsh effects of FOG overflow on health and the environment. When FOG overflows, sewer lines get all obstructed with solidified grease and wastewater backs up into the establishments. Anyone that comes in contact with the untreated effluent could acquire skin and respiratory diseases. The surrounding water systems in the area instantly get polluted, placing the clean water supply at a high risk of contamination. Enzymes and chemicals are often the immediate solutions thought of in commercial grease trap maintenance. This is because of the exaggerated promises that the additive manufacturers give to their consumers. Consumers are easily persuaded by the flowery words and lively moods that their advertisements depict. As a result the FOG situation only gets worse because the enzymes and chemicals merely emulsify the grease materials, mixing it very easily with the untreated wastewater.
Bacteria should be readily considered when it comes to commercial grease trap maintenance. These are microorganisms that feed on FOG and solid wastes, converting them into less detrimental substances. Bioremediation uses non-pathogenic bacteria while bioaugmentation uses a selected strain of bacteria to do the task at hand. Bacteria eliminate the foul odors as well while making sure that the environment stays completely unharmed.
Commercial grease trap maintenance takes a lot of time, effort, and money. Every food company knows that. With the use of bacteria, these three factors are cut down dramatically, leading to much progress and efficiency.
