‘Fatbergs’ in Cardiff and London

In February of this year a 3 ft wide mass was found in the sewers beneath Mill Lane Cardiff. The 3ft ‘fatberg’ was blocking sewers beneath Mill Lane in Cardiff, a popular nightlife spot with scores of fast food restaurants. Only a few months earlier a similar 15 ton ‘fatberg’ was found in London.

‘Fatbergs’ caused by commercial kitchens

The Water Environment Research Foundation found that a majority (90%) of the Fats, oils and greases (FOGs) deposits in drain blockages contained saturated fats and this is the main cause of blocked pipes in commercial kitchens and in sewage pipes. In kitchens, FOGs are the by-products of food preparation, washing up activity, commercial dishwashing activity i.e. anything that goes down the plug hole.

Water authorities invoking and enforcing legislation

These rancid fat ‘n’ stuff mountains are causing the Water companies aggravation, so they in turn are looking to go to the root cause i.e. the businesses which cause the problem. This is the legislation that they can expect to be using.

• England and Wales, Water Industry Act 1991.
• Scotland, Sewerage (Scotland) Act 1968 & Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 & Part 2 of the Water Services etc. (Scotland) Act 2005
• N. Ireland, Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order SI 2006/3336. The Water (Northern Ireland) Order SI 1999/662, has now fully revoked the Water Act (Northern Ireland) 1972. The Order carries on these provisions and brings Northern Ireland in line with the controls currently in force throughout the UK.
• The Building Regulations 2000 – Drainage And Waste Disposal. Drainage serving kitchens in commercial food premises should be fitted with a grease separator complying with BS EN 1825-1:2004 and designed in accordance with BS EN1825-2:2002 or other effective means of grease removal.
• Directive 96/61/EC and Directive 2008/1/EC. Pollution should be prevented at source by using BAT (Best Available Technology) techniques / methodology / equipment and processes and the Polluter must pay.
• The Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC. Sets out the policies to be adopted by national governments in order to improve the quality of water in the European Union. Article 9 of directive 2000/60/EC, states that member states shall recover the costs for water and wastewater services in accordance with the principle of the polluter pays.

The first targets are - Shopping centres and their tenants

On the basis of feedback from our customers its clear that the first targets are going to be the shopping centres because of the amount of catering establishments in them. What is clear is that Shopping centre Landlords are now aggressively pursuing a F.O.G.S free policy for all of their tenants.

Catering Tenants that will have to watch out

Any tenant that provides food for the customer will become a target – including Restaurants, Coffee shops, Snack bars, Take-aways which have sinks and/or a commercial dishwasher, which don’t have a Fats Oils or greases solution.

What’s the best solution?

It depends! on the standards that are set by the consultant in charge of advising the Shopping centre. Here’s what you may encounter as a catering business. The standard required and the machine that meets it.

• EN 1825 Parts 1 & 2 – European Standard For Passive Traps
• CSA B481 Series 12 – Hydro Mechanical Greasetraps and Passive Greasetraps
• PDI G101 – Hydro Mechanical Greasetraps and Passive Greasetraps
• ASME A112.14.3-2000 - Hydro Mechanical Greasetraps and Passive Greasetraps
• ASME A112.14.4.2001 - Grease Interceptors equipped with automatic grease removal devices (GRDs).

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