Environmental Factoid:
In North America, there are approximately 800,000 restaurants.
The amount of waste water produced during a restaurant cleaning is about 150 gallons. Consider that these restaurants can be serviced up to 4 times annually (sometimes more!). The amount of waste water containing caustics, cleaning chemicals and grease produced from this service is an astonishing 1/2 BILLION GALLONS or 2 TRILLION liters!
This waste water, if improperly disposed of, will enter sewer and storm systems and eventually end up in local waterways.
This volume is equivalent to 635 OIL TANKERS running aground annually!
Food Service Establishments, or FSE’s, need to be serviced by Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning services (KEC’s) normally 3 or 4 times annually (though some are monthly). During this servicing there can be a significant amount of waste water expelled into the sewer and storm sewer system, which in turn, often makes its way into the local water courses. The cleaning agents used in the industry contain strong chemicals and caustics needed to break down restaurant grease into a washable form. Once these chemicals are expelled into the water, they can negatively impact fish and plants, even potable water sources!
Waste water collection also reduces the amount of FOG (Fat’s, Oil and Grease) released into piping infrastructure. FOG will cause blockages and can cost cities a significant portion of their annual maintenance budget to look for and facilitate.