Shopping malls are, by far, one of the greatest milestones that man has ever come up with. The shopping mall grease removal is the melting pot of all types of establishments that cater to every kind of clientele—infants, elderly, men, women, children, and even pets. The mall is where everything is found, done, and bought. It’s a one-stop sanctuary for the busy people who don’t have the time to drive from one city to another to purchase what they need. Since everyone wants to do everything in the shopping mall, food establishments are incorporated in it as well. Every cuisine imaginable is in the shopping mall. With all the fast food restaurants, fine dining restaurants, food stalls, and delicacy shops, it’s mandatory that a grease interceptor is installed outside the building, underground.
The grease trap is a needed component in a shopping mall because it aids in the sanitation procedures mandated by the state’s Grease Ordinance. According to the ordinance, food establishments need to have grease traps. Since a shopping mall is a smorgasbord of food establishments, it’s really bound to have large deposits of FOG (fats, oils, grease). As the United States gets more and more saturated with the shopping mall culture, the FOG crisis gets worse.
FOG overflow is one of the major environmental and health problems in the country at present. When FOG spills over the untreated wastewater, the pipelines get clogged until the wastewater backs up into the shopping mall facilities and onto the surrounding environment. When there is wastewater and FOG springing out from everywhere, foul odors are carried everywhere. This is definitely not very desirable for everyone’s holistic health and for the shopping mall’s operation.
Lack of monitoring and maintenance are main culprits to its malfunction. A shopping mall is a busy structure and the FOG just might be building up much faster than the frequency of grease trap care. Shopping mall grease removal should be one of the main priorities of the mall’s management. If this is not dealt with on a regular basis, then there will always be large fines to pay and lawsuits to face. And the payments would definitely take a toll on the different businesses.
In order to have a proper shopping mall grease removal campaign, every food establishment should be oriented on how to properly dispose of the FOG and solid wastes in their kitchens. The food scraps and grease materials should all be contained in a sealed vessel and disposed of together with the rest of the trash. The sinks should have food meshes to catch any more bits of grease and food materials during washing. It would also be a lot of help if reminder signs are put up for the kitchen staff of each food establishment.
It is compulsory for a shopping mall to have the grease trap pumped out at least four times annually. But this mandate doesn’t mean that the shopping mall should just pump out the grease trap four times in a year. The frequency depends on how fast the grease trap’s FOG and solid waste level is. It should be set as a standard to pump out the shopping mall grease trap three to four times a week because of the numerous food establishments in the building.
Using chemicals and enzymes in shopping mall grease removal is not an ideal technique. Although the immediate impression is that they will melt away the FOG and solid wastes in the grease trap upon application, the lasting effects are not that favorable. They only emulsify the FOG, making it flow with the wastewater in the sewer pipes. There, the FOG cools down and solidifies. The wastewater then backs up into the shopping mall’s facilities and into the surrounding waterways.
Bioremediation and bioaugmentation are the most recommended methods in shopping mall grease removal. Bioremediation is a process that uses non-pathogenic bacteria in consuming the FOG and the solid waste particulates. Bioaugmentation is a process that uses a selected strain of bacteria in getting rid of the FOG and other contaminants. When it comes to shopping mall grease removal, bacteria are the direct solution.