Septic tank maintenance

July 1st, 2013:

Shopping mall grease trap maintenance

This article will briefly discuss shopping mall grease trap maintenance and the advantages. Everything needs to be taken care of. Small houses are very easy to maintain but large structures such as shopping malls take teams of professionals to keep it clean and functional. Maintenance of each component in the shopping mall has to be done effectively and with as little cost as possible. When you talk about “cost” it’s not only the money but also the time and the effort in doing the task.

When people look at a mall, they admire its design and size. They compliment the way everything is incorporated. People come in all the time because of the energy, the items, the entertainment, and the food. Every shopping mall needs to have lots of food establishments to make sure that all the customers are happy and satisfied as they stroll along the corridors. But as customers stay and eat, do they ever think of what costs the shopping mall has to consider in maintaining these establishments and the entire mall running?

If food is there, kitchens are there and these are the major contributors to the FOG (fats, oils, grease) problem in the United States. There has to be a more serious method of shopping mall grease trap maintenance because the problems brought about by FOG overflow are not to be taken lightly. When FOG overflows, it mixes with the untreated effluent that travels towards the wastewater treatment facility. The effluent then gets blocked by solidified FOG in the pipes and then backs up into the shopping mall facilities and surrounding areas. Because of this consequence, many people suffer from health problems including respiratory and skin infections. The waterways get contaminated and all aquatic life slowly disappears. Even the clean water deposits become unsafe for use.

The shopping mall administration should make it a point to always remind everyone that there should be proper disposal methods for the grease materials and food scraps everyday. The ones in the kitchens should manually scrape off and collect the food scraps and FOG in receptacles that can be sealed up and disposed of together with regular trash. The drains in their sinks should have food meshes or strainers to catch bits of grease and food, preventing them from reaching the grease trap. 

Shopping mall grease trap maintenance should be done efficiently and regularly so that FOG overflow can be prevented. Members of the maintenance department could take turns in monitoring and inspecting the grease trap. This will make sure that the FOG level doesn’t overflow. Constant monitoring will also enable the management to set up a stable maintenance schedule with the grease trap professionals. 

If there is a best means to maintain shopping mall grease traps, it’s bacteria. There are two processes that involve the use of useful bacteria—bioremediation and  bioaugmentation. Bioremediation uses non-pathogenic bacteria in converting contaminants into less harmful substances while bioaugmentation uses selected strains of bacteria in consuming the contaminants including the FOG. Bacteria are very natural and do not pollute the environment. They are also able to eliminate the foul smells in the grease trap.

Shopping mall grease trap maintenance needs the effort of the management, staff, and even the customers who frequent the place. If the shopping mall management distributes additional trash bins that are exclusive for grease and food scraps, then it would be much easier to segregate the FOG. These trash bins should be placed near food stalls and fast food areas where self-service is the rule.

The FOG crisis will always prove unresolved if the necessary authorities do not do anything about it. The shopping mall is a place where people converge. It’s a perfect venue for change. Using bacteria is one of the major changes in shopping mall grease trap maintenance. It’s far better than using chemicals or enzymes that just make the problem worse. Bioremediation and bioaugmentation are real milestones in the process of shopping mall grease trap maintenance. With these processes, mall authorities will have a much better relationship with Mother Nature.