Fats, Oil & Grease

How To Prevent “FOG” From Damaging Your Home And The Environment

• Fats, Oils, and Grease aren’t just bad for your waistline; they’re bad for sewers, too!

Where Does Grease Come From? 

• Grease is found in such things as: Meat fats, lard, cooking oil, shortening, butter, margarine, food scraps, baking goods, sauces, and dairy products

 
What Is The Problem? 

• Sewer overflows and backups can cause health hazards, damage to home interiors and threaten the environment. An increasingly common cause of overflows is sewer pipes blocked by grease. Grease gets into the sewer from household drains and poorly maintained grease traps in restaurants and businesses. 

Backups In Sewer Lines May Have The Following Results 

• Raw sewage overflowing in your home or your neighbors home
• An expensive and unpleasant cleanup that must be paid by you, the homeowner
• Raw sewage flowing into parks, yards and streets
• Potential contact with disease causing organisms
• Fines administered by the Town or other regulatory agencies
• An increase in cost to operate the wastewater treatment facility

 
What Restaurant And Building Owners Need To Know About Grease Traps

• Grease traps should be constructed and installed with the following in mind:

1. Designed and sized to handle the amount of materials expected;
2. Installed correctly, and be level and vented;
3. Maintained (sometimes daily), cleaned and serviced on a frequent basis; and
4. Kept free of chemicals and additives that may simply pass grease into your sewer line and the Town’s 

What You Can Do To Help

• The easiest way to solve the grease problem and help prevent overflows is to keep material out of the sewer system in the first place;
• Pour grease and food scraps into a can or the trash for disposal;
• Don’t put grease down garbage disposals and use basket or sink strainers in sink to catch food, then dispose of in the trash.