Food / Restaurant Service Businesses

Setting Up Service

The grease-producing fixtures and hazards connected with the facility are used to determine the Industrial/Commercial Food Service Establishment (FSE) permit requirements. Contact the IWS Pretreatment Program Coordinator at 815-387-7633 or bladd@fourrivers.illinois.gov for additional information. 

A FSE permit may be required for facilities that use certain types of grease-producing fixtures.  Fixtures requiring grease control devices include:

  • Multi-compartment Sinks
  • Sinks for Food Preparation 
  • Sinks with a pre-rinse 
  • To an outside interceptor, connect dishwashers and floor drains. 

Please contact the IWS department for permission needs if your facility has any of the above-mentioned fixtures.

Sewer Blockage Prevention

Food Service Establishments generate fats, oils, and grease (FOG) found in items such as meat, food scraps, cooking oil, shortening, lard, dairy products, salad dressings, butter, and margarine. FOG are commonly washed into the plumbing system through the sink during clean-up in the kitchen and are a major cause of preventable sanitary sewer blockages and overflows that can cause health hazards, damage homes and businesses, as well as threaten the environment.

FOG is an issue because it doesn’t dissolve in water. When it enters the plumbing that discharges directly into the collections system, it can decrease pipe capacity when it cools down by coating the inside of drain pipes. This can cause slow drainage and eventually block the pipes both within the foodservice establishment’s internal plumbing and the regional wastewater collection system.

If you’re looking for tips on sewer blockage prevention, the experts at Four Rivers put together a list of tips you can read here!

Forms & Permit Requirements

For food service companies, a completed General Industrial/Commercial Wastewater Discharge permit application is required. For the issuing of the FSE permit, there is a $300 permit application cost.

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