But in the growing food establishment population, a problem co-exists—FOG. It’s not a secret that FOG (fats, oils, grease) come from plant and animal fat. These are the raw materials to all sorts of food products. When food is manufactured, by-products are still plant and animal fat. The food business is one of the biggest in the country and when it produces food products on a large scale, there is bound to be FOG on a large scale as well. Because of the worsening condition of the wastewater treatment system and the surrounding aquatic environment, the pretreatment or grease ordinance was established. What is the cost to clean a grease trap?
Every state is now strictly implementing the ordinance to make sure that every food establishment significantly decreases the amount of FOG that overflows onto the wastewater. The ordinance aims to protect the sewer lines, the wastewater treatment facility, and the clean water supply in every state. If the ordinance is implemented well and followed readily, there will be less contamination and less aggravation on the part of the food business owners. These owners usually face environmental lawsuits and pay large fines because of the FOG overflow that their unmaintained grease traps cause. If they change their maintenance routine and follow the ordinance, surely their status with the environmental department will change.
Part of the ordinance is to have a grease trap installed and have it cleaned up regularly and as often as needed. But what is the cost to clean a grease trap?
A grease trap, which should have a permit, could either be indoors or outdoors. If the establishment is small, then the grease trap can be built inside. This should be cleaned up monthly, by rule of thumb, which will cost from 75 to 150 USD. If the establishment is large, the grease trap is built outside, underneath the ground. This should be cleaned up every quarter, which will cost 300 USD and above.
It can be really expensive for food company owners to clean up their grease traps more than the recommended number of times. But they have to do it because they don’t want to pay fines or deal with lawsuits anymore. Most food establishments have their grease traps cleaned up every week. They assign employees to monitor the level of FOG in the grease trap and when a certain level is reached, they call the licensed hauler to clean the trap. The company should make sure that the hauler they hire is a licensed one because if the hauler isn’t, the collected FOG would only be dumped anywhere and this is very illegal. If the authorities find out that the company is hiring an unlicensed hauler who only charges cheap, the company will be legally accountable.
To help the food companies save on expensive grease trap cleaning fees, bacteria are recommended to serve as aids in keeping the FOG level at a low minimum. This is a very safe and non-toxic way of eliminating the FOG crisis in the United States. The processes of bioremediation and bioaugmentation are commonly utilized. Bioremediation makes use of non-pathogenic bacteria in converting FOG and solid wastes into less harmful forms. Bioaugmentation uses a strain of bacteria that digests all the contaminants and the FOG in the grease trap.
What is the cost to clean a grease trap? If the practice of using bacteria is done on a regular basis, the food companies will have fewer grease trap clean up sessions. As a result, they will be able to minimize their grease trap maintenance expenses and concentrate on making their businesses even better.