In this article we will discuss school grease removal. The educational system in the United States have has its ups and downs. Even so, the standards have been kept high especially in honing the academic and non-academic skills of the students all over the country. In order to bring out the best in the students, every imaginable facility is provided in various departments such as athletics, culinary arts, performance arts, debates, and mathematics, just to name a few. But being in school all day needs energy. To provide a constant flow of energy, the students need to eat. What facility in school is the most familiar source of sustenance? The cafeteria, of course.
The school cafeteria is an institution in itself. Many generations of students in every school have grown up eating comforting food that settle their physical hunger. Whether it’s big meals or snacks, cafeterias provide easy and familiar food that everyone loves to eat. Just recently, there was a health revolution started in some parts of the US wherein the food served in school cafeterias are changed into much healthier ones. For years, the students have taken in synthetic food and drinks that they believe are delicious and nutritious just because everyone has been eating and drinking them for years.
FOG (fats, oils, grease) are in massive amounts in school cafeterias. This is basically because of the main ingredients found in what they have always prepared—oils, salts, and sugars. What are the usual food items served in school cafeterias?
- French fries
- Potato wedges
- Mac and cheese
- Burgers
- Spaghetti
- Chicken nuggets
- Flavored milk
- Buttered corn and peas
- Jello
- Fried chicken
- Pudding
- Cakes
- Donuts
- Soda
As everyone has experienced, these are what the students eat every single day at the school cafeteria. When the school is large, there are more students. If there are more students, the cafeteria is even bigger because there are lots to seat and feed. More and more schools are being established these days and this strengthens the fact that the schools are major contributors to the FOG (fats, oils, grease) problem in the country. FOG overflow means that the FOG spills into the untreated effluent that flows through sewer lines towards the wastewater treatment facility. When the Fog mixes with the effluent, it hardens and sticks to the inner walls of the pipes. As more FOG enters the sewer pipes, more blockage is formed. Eventually, the effluent just backs up into the school because it couldn’t flow normally towards the wastewater treatment facility anymore.
School grease removal has to be performed if a sanitary and healthy school system is to be enjoyed for years to come. This is a very challenging task to do especially in a school cafeteria. But extra effort should be done for the desired outcome. The FOG crisis can be stopped significantly if the schools all work together in properly disposing of the grease that they produce. They could manually scrape off the grease and food from the dishes and equipment that they use. These would then be placed in leak-proof vessels that could be disposed of with the rest of the trash. Strainers or fine meshes could then be fitted into their drains to prevent the bits of food and grease from entering the grease trap.
Using bacteria based additives to clean the grease trap on a regular basis is also a significant change that has to be made. With bacteria, FOG and solid wastes are digested and converted into much harmless forms. Chemicals and enzymes just emulsify the FOG and make it easier to combine with the untreated effluent. Bacteria are living organisms that voraciously eat FOG and solid materials. They even eliminate the disarming odors that come from accumulated gunk in the grease trap. Once school grease removal is successful, there will be no environmental lawsuits to file. The administration will even save a lot from pumping the grease trap too much when bacteria are always there to keep FOG levels at a low minimum.