This article will cover hospital grease trap cleaning. Sanitation is a major factor in ensuring health in any area around the world. It’s already given that the more saturated the place is in filth, the more diseases can be contracted by the ones that reside there. If cleanliness is a must for residential or occupational areas, what more should the level of sanitation be in a particular hospital?
A hospital is a healthcare institution that helps make sure that the health of those they serve are kept in the best possible state. It is only natural to get sick because of so many factors but what’s important is that once they get admitted into the hospital, their condition will definitely get better. Inside this healthcare facility, every possible means to eliminate diseases can be found, including nutritious food. The hospital also makes sure that there are certain areas that enforce asepsis such as the laboratory and the surgery department. These departments are needed to bring out the best results from every treatment.
But even as hospitals in the United States aim to help those who are in need of therapy or immediate cure, they are still major contributors to the FOG (fats, oils, grease) crisis. FOG comes from the tissues and organs from the surgery department and also from the canteen. As a form of action, the federal government has already included hospitals in the pre-treatment or grease ordinance. This ordinance aims to protect the wastewater treatment system and the pipelines that lead to it. In a FOG overflow, the FOG combines with the wastewater as it enters the pipelines. There, the FOG solidifies and adheres to the pipe walls. As more and more FOG accumulates, the wastewater eventually gets blocked completely, resulting to effluent backup. This is a major consequence for hospitals because it’s supposed to be the last place to be contaminated by wastewater.
As a form of action to alleviate the FOG crisis, the government includes hospitals in the grease ordinance or pre-treatment ordinance. This is strictly implemented to make sure that every hospital has a grease trap suitable to handle all the FOG produced every day. The grease trap or grease interceptor installed should have a permit and should be inspected regularly. It should also be maintained on a set schedule. If the grease trap is a small, indoor type, then a monthly pump out is required. If the grease trap is a large, outdoor type, then a quarterly pump out is needed. But hospitals have their grease traps pumped out weekly to avoid paying up large fines and lawyers for the time-consuming lawsuits they would face for FOG overflow.
In effective hospital grease trap cleaning, chemicals and enzymes should not be considered at all. It is true that there are many products that contain these substances may seem to disintegrate the FOG and solid wastes but the truth is that they merely emulsify the FOG. The FOG melts away, mixing conveniently with the wastewater as it flows through the sewer lines. There, the FOG takes on a solid form and sticks to the pipe walls like hard glue until it completely blocks the effluent flow. Wastewater then backs up into the hospital premises and the surrounding areas. With this, the use of chemicals and enzymes should not be encouraged at all.
Bacteria, however, brings about a dramatic turnaround in the FOG situation. The helpful microorganisms, once categorized as harmful, are now being used to eliminate the FOG and solid wastes in grease traps. Bioremediation makes use of non-pathogenic bacteria in converting contaminants and solid wastes into less detrimental forms. Bioaugmentation uses a strain of bacteria to get rid of the pollutants including FOG.
If a budget is set for hospital grease trap cleaning, then every dime will be worth spending on bacteria. They can even eliminate grease trap odors without harming the environment. They are Nature’s best solutions to the FOG crisis even if they are considered primitive creatures.