City of St. Helena: Pollution Prevention for Food Service Facilities

Help Prevent Pollution:
A Guide for Food Service Facilities

Pollution Prevention

Clean and healthy creeks, rivers, and bays are important to the City of St. Helena. However, allowing debris from your business to enter the gutter and storm drains can lead to water pollution. Storm drains carry rainwater from our streets, and should never contain wash water, trash, grease or other materials. Unlike substances that enter the sanitary sewers (from sinks and toilets), substances that enter the storm drains do not receive treatment before entering our waterways. In addition, blocked sewer lines can cause raw sewage to back up into kitchens, bathrooms, city streets, storm drains, and our waterways.

This brochure will explain steps your food establishment can take to help preserve water quality by keeping debris out of storm drains and by preventing fats, oils, and grease from blocking sewer lines.

Use Grease Interceptors To Capture Fats, Oils, and Grease (FOG).

Chef Sweeping Up

Cleaning Spills and Equipment

Never hose a spill into a gutter, street or storm drain!
Before mopping a wet kitchen spill, absorb it with towels, cat litter or other absorbent materials.
Sweep up dry spills immediately and dispose of the material in the trash.
Scrape grease and food waste from floor mats and filters before cleaning. Dispose of scrapings in trash.
After scraping, clean floor mats, filters, and garbage cans in a mop, sink or a designated, curbed area connected to the sanitary sewer. Consider using a cleaning service for these activities.

Absorb Wet Spills With Cat Litter Or Towels; Discard In The Trash

Chef Sweeping Near Dumpster

Dumpster/Grease Bin Area Cleaning

Keep the area around the dumpster clear of trash and other debris. Do not overfill the dumpster.
Cover dumpsters to block insects, animals, rainwater and wind.
Sweep or vacuum up trash and throw it away.
Absorb wet spills with cat litter, towels or similar materials. Discard in the trash.
Do not rinse your dumpster area! Doing so can cause grease and trash to enter the storm drains.
Have leaky dumpsters replaced.

Use Janitorial Mop Sinks For Cleaning Mops, Towels, And Floor Mats.

Prevent Fats, Oils, and Grease from Blocking the Sewers

Fats, oils, and grease (FOG) can cause sewer line blockages which can make sewage overflow into your facility and into storm drains that lead to the Napa River. To stop the substances from building up in sewer lines, prevent them from entering your drains.

Grease blockage in sewer pipe.
Photo Courtesy of the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency.

Practices in the Kitchen

Collect waste cooking oil and grease in portable containers with lids. Transfer into drums or barrels for recycling.
Do not pour oil or grease down any drain. Recycle or use absorbent materials and dispose of waste in the trash.
Dry-wipe pots, pans, dishware, and work areas to remove all visible grease before washing. Dispose of waste in the trash.
Use drain screens to capture food waste and dispose of properly into the trash.
Train employees about proper grease disposal and post “NO GREASE” signs near all sinks or drains.

Do not pour grease down drains.

Maintenance of Grease Traps and Interceptors

Reduce solids going to the grease trap or interceptor.
Inspect and clean grease traps frequently to ensure proper operation.
Have a licensed company inspect and pump out grease interceptors regularly to ensure proper operation.
Keep maintenance records on-site for reference and regulatory review.

For more information, call the City of St. Helena Department of Public Works at
(707) 968-2658

For emergencies call 911.

Illustrations courtesy of the City of Los Angeles and Orange County.