(A) Grease interceptors shall be installed by users as required by the Chapter 52. Grease interceptors shall be installed at the user’s expense, when operating a cooking establishment. Grease interceptors may also be required in non-cooking establishments, including those that prepare and service cold dairy and frozen foodstuffs, and other industrial, commercial or institutional establishments, when they are deemed necessary by the Public Works Department staff for the proper handling of liquid wastes containing grease.
(B) No user shall allow wastewater discharge concentration from a subject grease interceptor to exceed 200 milligrams per liter as identified by EPA method 1664, or 150 milligrams per liter as identified by EPA method 413.
(C) All grease interceptors shall be of a type, design and capacity approved by the Public Works Director, or his or her designee, and shall be readily and easily accessible for user cleaning and town inspection. No grease interceptor shall be less than 1,000 gallons total capacity unless otherwise approved by the Public Works Department.
(D) All grease interceptors shall be subject to review, evaluation and inspection by the Public Works Department during normal working hours. Results of inspections will be made available to the facility owner, lease-holder or operator. The Public Works Department may make recommendations for correction and improvement.
(E) All such grease interceptors shall be serviced and emptied of accumulated waste content as required in order to maintain minimum design capability or effective volume of the grease interceptor, but not less often than every 30 days.
(F) Users required to pass water through a grease interceptor shall:
(1) Provide a minimum hydraulic retention time of 24 minutes at actual peak flow, or 12 minutes at the calculated theoretical peak flow rate as predicted by the Uniform Plumbing Code fixture criteria, between the influent and effluent baffles, with 20% of the total volume of the grease interceptor being allowed for sludge to settle and accumulate, identified hereafter as SLUDGE POCKET.
(2) Remove any accumulated grease cap and sludge pocket as required, but at intervals of not longer than 30 days at the user’s expense. Grease interceptors shall be kept free of inorganic solid materials, such as grit, rocks, gravel, sand, eating utensils, cigarettes, shells, towels, rags, and the like, which could settle into the sludge pocket and thereby reduce the effective volume of the grease interceptor.
(3) Accept the following conditions: If any skimmed or pumped wastes or other materials removed from the grease interceptor are treated in any fashion onsite and reintroduced back into the grease interceptor as an activity of and after the onsite treatment, the user shall be responsible for the attainment of established grease numerical limit consistent with and contained in division (B), on all discharges of wastewater from the grease interceptor into the town sanitary sewer collection system.
(4) Operate the grease interceptor in a manner so as to maintain it such that attainment of the grease limit is consistently achieved. CONSISTENT shall mean any wastewater sample taken from the grease interceptor shall be subject to terms of numerical limit attainment described in division (B). If an establishment desires to use an alternative to an out-of-building grease interceptor, because of documented space restraints, the request for an alternative location shall contain the following information:
(a) Location of the town sewer main and easement in relation to available exterior space outside building;
(b) Existing plumbing at or in a site that uses common plumbing for all services at that site.
(5) Understand and agree that the use of biological additives as a grease degradation agent is not permitted.
(6) Understand and agree that the use of automatic grease removal systems is conditionally permissible, upon prior written approval by the Public Works Department. Any establishment using this equipment shall operate the system in such a manner that attainment of the grease wastewater discharge limit, as measured from the unit’s outlet, is consistently achieved.
(7) Understand and agree that the Public Works Department reserves the right to make determinations of grease interceptor adequacy and need, based on review of all relevant information regarding its performance, facility site and building plan review, and to require repairs to, modifications or replacement of such traps.
(8) Understand and agree that, a minimum of once per year, the Public Works Department will conduct an inspection of the user’s grease interceptor. The Public Works Department will coordinate with the user during regular monthly pumping to inspect the condition of the grease interceptor walls, bottom, top, cover, inlet and outlet pipes, and baffles.
(G) The user shall submit a grease trap service record form provided by the town to the Public Works Department on the first day of each month. The user shall maintain a written record of trap maintenance for three years. All such records will be available for inspection by the town at all times.
(H) No non-grease-laden sources are allowed to be connected to sewer lines intended for grease interceptor service.
(I) Except as provided herein, for a period of three months following adoption of this chapter, although installation and maintenance of grease interceptors will be required, no enforcement actions will be taken under this chapter for failure to achieve limits on grease discharges from the grease interceptors. If, during this three-month period, an obstruction of a town sewer main(s) occurs, or a sewer lift station problem occurs that causes a sewer overflow to the extent that an impact on the environment is realized, and that the overflow or failure of the sanitary sewer collection system to convey sewage can be attributed, in part or in whole, to an accumulation of grease from the establishment in the town’s sewer main(s) or lift station, the town will take appropriate enforcement actions and may hold the responsible user liable for costs related to service calls for sewer line blockages, line cleaning, line and pump repairs, fines, and the like, including all labor, materials and equipment.
(J) Access manholes, with a minimum diameter of 24 inches, shall be provided over each chamber and sanitary tee. The access manholes shall extend at least to finished grade and shall be designed and maintained to prevent water inflow and infiltration. The manholes shall also have readily removable covers to facilitate inspection, grease removal, and wastewater sampling activities.
(Ord. passed 2-20-2007)