INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO FATS, OILS, AND GREASE (FOG) MANAGEMENT

In 2002, as part of an overall effort to reduce Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO's) JEA developed a Fats, Oils, and Grease (FOG) management program. As with any FOG program the first objective was to reduce both the SSO's attributed to grease and the maintenance cost associated with degreasing activities in the collection system. Second, the program needed to be implemented without major staffing or budgeting increases in JEA's Industrial Pretreatment (IP) department. Finally, the program needed to be implemented in a way that achieved these first two goals while minimizing the impact on our regulated customers.A team was assembled to develop and implement a FOG program. The team analyzed SSO data, surveyed FOG generators, identified potential factors contributing FOG into the system, and benchmarked with other municipalities. From these activities an initial program was proposed. This program involved partnering with city plumbing inspectors and grease trap maintenance vendors, and implementing BMP's for grease trap maintenance. Before full implementation was initiated a pilot project was run to evaluate the program's effectiveness. Lessons learned from the pilot were then used to adjust the full scale FOG program, and in the summer of 2004 the FOG program was introduced to restaurants throughout an 841 square mile service area.Program goals are being achieved by forming a close alliance with grease trap maintenance vendors allowing IP to focus its resources on the performance of fewer than 15 grease trap vendors instead of 2600 FOG generators. This paper will discuss the pilot project study, lessons learned and innovative methods utilized in the JEA FOG program.