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Information on the relevant legislation that may be used by official bodies with regard to the disposal of Fats, Oils, Grease and associated kitchen waste into the Drainage system.
The local utility company will set a consent level to discharge to drain. This will normally include flow rate, temperature, suspended solids, Chemical Oxygen Demand. It may also include Fats, Oils and Grease
The relevant legislation with regard to this is the Water Industry Act 1991. Section 111, Part 1 of the legislation states
“…. no person shall throw, empty or turn, or suffer or permit to be thrown or emptied or to pass, into any public sewer, or into any drain or sewer communicating with a public sewer any matter likely to injure the sewer or drain, to interfere with the free flow of its contents or to affect prejudicially the treatment and disposal of its contents”
If you are not connected to the mains drains then you would normally have on site a treatment plant which would have an outflow to a public stream, river, ditch etc. If this is the case then the Environment Agency will be the relevant authority to issue consent levels for the discharge and check that these are being complied with.
The relevant legislation here is the Water Resources Act 1991. Part IIIII of this legislation relates to ‘Control of Pollution of Water Resources’ Section 85 states
“….A person contravenes this section if he causes or knowingly permits any poisonous, noxious or polluting matter or any solid waste matter to enter any controlled waters.
….A person contravenes this section if he causes or knowingly permits any trade effluent or sewage effluent to be discharged into any controlled waters
.…A person contravenes this section if he causes or knowingly permits any trade effluent or sewage effluent to be discharged from a building or from any fixed plant—
(a) on to or into any land; or
(b) into any waters of a lake or pond which are not inland freshwaters.”
If your drain pipework is then connected to the public sewer but is causing a problem to the public sewer then the Local Authority may serve a notice under the Building Act 1984. Section 59 states
“….that if it appears to a Local Authority that in the case of any building a cesspool, private sewer, drain, soil-pipe, rain water pipe, spout, sink or other necessary appliance provided for the building is insufficient or in such a condition as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance they shall by notice require the owner of the building to make satisfactory provision for the drainage of the building, or, as to case may be, require either the owner or occupier of the building to do such work as may be necessary for renewing, repairing or cleaning the existing cesspool, sewer, drain pipe, spout, sink or other appliance, or for filling up, removing or otherwise rendering innocuous the disused cesspool, sewer or drain.”
In addition, Local Environmental Health Officers, in many areas, particularly where food preparation and cooking is creating a FOG (fat, oil & grease) problem, within a public or private sewer, will stipulate that the offender treat their waste, which is considered to be trade effluent, with a biological treatment
If you have blocked drains (serving one property) then the local authority can serve a notice on you to cleanse and repair under Local Government (Misc Provisions) Act 1982 section 27 and/or Public Health Act 1936 section 343
If you have a blocked private sewer (serving two or more properties) then the local authority can serve a notice to cleanse and repair under Local Government (Misc Provisions) Act 1976 section 35 and/or Public Health Act 1936 section 343
If you have had a new build or extension to your kitchens then you may be liable under Building Regulations 2000. Part H Section 2.21 states
“….Drainage serving kitchens in commercial hot food premises should be fitted with a grease separator complying with BS EN 1825-1:2004 and designed in accordance with BS EN 1825-2:2002 or other effective means of grease removal”
It is considered that Biological Treatment of FOG complies under these regulations.
Any premises operating under ISO14001 should also consider the following:
“ISO 14001:1996 is the current Environmental Management System (EMS) standard, providing a model for companies to follow to create and achieve their environmental policy, thereby effectively managing the complete business. It is designed to help companies achieve consistent environmental regulatory compliance together with continuous improvements in environmental performance. It can also lead to increased efficiency and can yield cost benefits.
How you use water on your site and how you dispose of waste water forms part of ISO 14001.
ISO 14001 also requires businesses to demonstrate they are using the latest techniques and equipment to constantly improve the methods and equipment they use as part of their environmental management systems.