Septic tank maintenance

January 23rd, 2013:

Correctional facility grease trap enzymes

This is another article that will cover correctional facility grease trap enzymes. Decades ago, there were deficiencies in prisons. Because of the lack of space, separation among prisoners was not implemented. Hardened criminals were confined with the children and women. It was expected for the correctional facilities back then to be very unsanitary and crowded. As years progressed, the prison and jail conditions have improved. There is already a classification system for inmates and a more organized system of management. But it seems that the internal improvements are not enough for today’s correctional facilities.

With the increasing number of convictions, it may seem that crimes rates continue to overwhelm the United States. It’s a very saddening and scary thought to live in a country where anyone is likely to commit a crime. More inmates mean a higher need for jail space. In the US, there are about 1.7 M people in jails and prisons.  The government’s correctional facilities are not enough to house the inmates anymore. If there is needed construction of new facilities, it would take about 5 to 6 years before it’s completed under government supervision and budget. This is where private companies take the task of building more correctional facilities under their umbrella.

The faster construction of correctional facilities is due to the private companies that have more efficient resources. They could get people to build for them, materials to use, and a contract time to finish the project. The government takes a lot of time to make a facility for inmates because of the delays that political entities usually initiate. There may be politicians that aim to stop the construction because of their agendas. With the private companies taking the floor, the correctional facilities under their eye are much better than their public counterparts.

Included in the improvement scheme of correctional facilities is the compliance to the grease trap ordinance established by the government. Correctional facilities have inmates and employees that need to be fed and their cafeterias work overtime just to make sure that they are, every single day. The large amounts of meals prepared everyday produce a lot of FOG (fats, oils, grease). The FOG that comes from correctional facilities contributes a lot to the ongoing FOG crisis being dealt with by the United States. The grease ordinance requires every correctional facility—public or private—to have grease traps or grease interceptors professionally installed within their premises. The traps should have permits. The owners or managers should make sure that they are regularly maintained and inspected.

Correctional facility grease traps should be cared for on a regular basis so that the FOG level could be monitored and kept from going over the set limit. Preventing the FOG overflow to take place in correctional facility grease traps needs more effort in implementing improved grease disposal practices. There should be meshes or strainers fitted into the drains of the kitchen sinks to filter off the grease and food bits before they enter the trap. The greasy leftovers should be scraped off manually into leak-proof bins. These containers should then be sealed before they are disposed of properly.

The use of correctional facility grease trap enzymes and chemicals should not be encouraged. These products merely emulsify the FOG, making it easier to mix with the untreated effluent. Just like a typical FOG overflow, the FOG then cools off once it’s in the sewer pipes. It sticks to the inner pipe walls and accumulate there until it completely blocks the normal flow of the wastewater towards the treatment plant. The effluent backs up into the correctional facility, contaminating the area and the surrounding living systems. Even the clean water supply is gravely affected.

Bacteria based additives are the ones that should be used on correctional facility grease traps. Bacteria are living organisms that consume and digest the FOG and solid wastes in the grease trap. They leave the grease trap odorless and the environment pollution-free. There is no need to go back to the medieval times in managing correctional facilities. With the help of bacteria, sanitation will be no problem at all.