ABSTRACT
This chapter presents information and recommendations that will be useful in the establishment of pretreatment limits for the discharge of oil and grease material to publicly owned treatment works (POTW's). The recommendations are intended to facilitate the development of regulations that will result in efficient use of POTW treatment capacity while minimizing the cost of pretreatment for industry. Environmental engineers and wastewater treatment plant operators are primarily aware of oil and grease in wastewater by the presence of grease balls and blockages in the collection system and by the presence of floating scum on sedimentation tanks. Loehr et al. indicated that long chain fatty acid salts are one of the major components of oil and grease in domestic wastewater and conducted laboratory investigations to study the aerobic degradation of the compounds. Factors investigated included chain length, degree of saturation, acclimation, type of salt, and concentration.
