A reader questioned why restaurants and bars are treated differently in terms of system sizing and often use additional and, in the reader’s words, “expensive” pretreatment devices. The straightforward answer to this question is that restaurants and bars almost always have high-strength waste — levels of fats, oils and grease exceeding what are typically found in domestic (residential) wastewater.
As a result, if the sewage generated at taverns and eateries is not treated differently, a more resistant biomat will build up in the treatment area, reducing the soil’s ability to accept the wastewater. If left unchanged, this leads to failure of
