Testing your assumptions is always good as a pretreatment professional because so many variables impact your job. New technology and data can compel you to change some of your longest-held beliefs.
Is it possible to assume there are universally held “technical understandings” that solve nearly all fats/oils/grease issues? Are there other universally held “technical understandings” that are expected to solve TSS, BOD, pH, and other pretreatment/collection system issues? How did these “universally held technical understandings” come about and why are they still the tail that wags the proverbial dog?
This post questions a few of these universally long-held “technical understandings.”
We are thankful to live in the 21st century and to not worry about dying from a restaurant dining experience. I once worked with a man whose 20 year-old brother died in 1940 of food poisoning from a restaurant with poor sanitation. As recently as the late 1940s, hot water heaters were not reliable and ware-washing detergents were caustic based. If the water was not hot, the detergent was not effective. Today’s modern restaurant has plenty of hot water, highly efficient detergents and those detergents also contain sanitizers and water softening agents to ensure complete sanitation and cleaning takes place.
Today we have better sanitation practices and the plates are always clean, but how about what is being sent down the drain? Does it pose a problem for the community’s sewer collection system? Can the constituents be treated at the community’s wastewater treatment plant?
Better Practices in the Modern Era