Grease Spill Cleanup in Winter Can Be Difficult

A grease spill that would be easy to clean in the summer is much more difficult when everything is frozen solid.

Grease Spill Buildup Brought Citation From City Inspector

A restaurant recently called us because they received a warning from the city regarding the heavy grease spill buildup around their dumpster corral.  The grease had built up over time from small splashes as the used cooking oil was carried from the restaurant to the grease containers in the dumpster enclosure.  The grease buildup was even worse inside the enclosure where oil had been spilled on the concrete.

As grease sits in the elements through the year or years, its consistency changes from soft goo to an extremely hard, almost enamel-like layer.  This layer bonds with the pores of the concrete and is very difficult to remove.  The longer grease sits, the thicker and harder it gets.  And the cost of cleaning it multiplies.

This particular restaurant hadn’t done any grease spill cleaning in the 5 years they had been there.

And it was dirty when they took it over from the previous restaurant.  In all likelihood, the grease on the concrete at this location had probably been building up over the course of 7-10 years.  It’s actually very ‘lucky’ the restaurant hadn’t received a warning or ticket sooner.

Grease Enclosure Next To Storm Drain

Snowmelt Can’t Be Collected With Waste Water

This grease spill cleanup will require water recovery. The restaurant’s dumpster enclosure is right next to a street and any water from washing the grease spill would flow right to a storm drain.  Another issue with washing during the winter is that any project requiring wash water recovery can’t be done while naturally occurring water runoff is present.  Wash water recovery cannot include rain or snowmelt runoff.

Fortunately, the inspector who gave the warning to the restaurant is aware of these factors and didn’t give a specific time-frame for the grease spill to be cleaned up.  Wash On Wheels works with inspectors to make sure any grease spill is cleaned to their satisfaction and the restaurant has a clean start.  Because of the unique factors at this location, this project might not get done until spring.