We got a call last week to clean up a grease spill at a restaurant in Boulder – and it was 34 degrees!
Pressure washing in the winter can be a challenge, not only because of the temperatures. Many materials like degreaser or graffiti remover aren’t as effective when it’s cold so they either take longer to work or need more than one application. We have a special degreaser custom designed for food grease. And with two hot water machines in each truck, we can handle the cold temperatures.
Someone in the kitchen was carrying a five-gallon container of grease and dropped it. Then it started running down the sidewalk, so the spill was about 30-feet long and 4-feet wide when our crew arrived. Its amazing how large a mess you can get from such a small amount of grease, oil, hydraulic fluid or whatever.
The kitchen people had put down some kind of white powder to soak up the grease and it turned into a dough-like substance when we started to clean it. So we had to shovel it up and put it in boxes to put in the dumpster.
Then we put down the degreaser, let it work until everything loosened up, then power washed it off. We collected the wash water, filtered it and disposed of it in accordance with the Boulder County Health Department rules.
The representative for the property owner was there and didn’t realize you have to be approved to clean this kind of mess in Boulder, as well as most other cities. Thankfully, they hadn’t called someone who didn’t know how to collect the wastewater properly. This can lead to tickets for everyone – the wash company, restaurant, and the property manager or owner.
Part of what we try to do in this blog is to make people aware of how things need to be cleaned to keep from making things worse. Many people are unaware of the recent changes and wouldn’t think about the need for water recovery.
Let’s face it – most of us grew up draining our radiators in the driveway and washing the antifreeze down the gutter. We never thought of how it might affect the environment downstream.
Click here for more information about our emergency spill cleanup services.
Related articles
- Restaurant Pressure Washing
- Emergency Spill Cleanup
- Cleaning An Emergency Grease Spill At A Restaurant (washonwheels.net)
- Restaurant Grease Theft (foodservicewarehouse.com)
- Restaurant Sustainability Program Announced
