Fat, Oil, and Grease Sewer Waste Management System: A Modeling Platform for Simulating the Formation of FOG Deposits in Sewer Networks
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 150, Issue 4
Abstract
The accumulation of fat, oil, and grease (FOG) deposits in sanitary sewer systems is a global issue responsible for billions of dollars in annual maintenance costs, environmental impact, and public health concerns. Laboratory and data-driven studies have explored the physical and chemical characteristics of FOG deposits, formation kinetics, and factors influencing their accumulation in sewer networks, such as pipe sags, pipe age, and pipe material. However, a scalable modeling platform capable of incorporating FOG kinetics and the key variables driving accumulation is not currently available. This study introduces a new platform for modeling the formation and attachment of FOG deposits in sewer systems, the FOG Sewer Waste Management System (FOG-SWMS). FOG-SWMS was utilized to quantify the impact of pipe sags, pipe age and roughness, and pipe material on the accumulation of FOG deposits in sewer lines. Results indicate that under typical sewer conditions, pipe sags and pipe age may increase the accumulation of FOG deposit mass by as much as approximately 23% and 150%, respectively. Surface , as a proxy for cementitious pipe materials, also resulted in more than a 172% increase in FOG deposit mass accumulation. These results confirm data from previous laboratory studies and machine learning algorithms, and also provide a mechanistic explanation of formation processes. Two full-scale sewer network case studies, Study Area 1 (SA1) and Study Area 2 (SA2), were analyzed using FOG-SWMS, to evaluate the predictive capability of the model to identify FOG deposit accumulation zones. FOG-SWMS successfully predicted approximately 85% and 73% of known accumulation zones in SA1 and SA2, respectively. Significant changes in the spatial and temporal distribution of FOG deposits in response to new commercial and residential development also were demonstrated with the model.
Practical Applications
Fat, oil, and grease deposits are solid masses that form in sanitary sewer lines and create a variety of issues for municipalities. They are primarily the result of discharged food waste residuals into sewers, which reacts with typical wastewater components to form a solid that can block sewer lines and cause overflow of wastewater. These impacts are common, and equate to an incredible amount of time and money spent on sewer repairs and maintenance. This study introduces a new computer-based model that allows researchers to visualize the formation of FOG deposits in sewer line segments. The model is not limited to specialized researchers; it also is intended to be used by engineers and pretreatment coordinators who may be concerned with the accumulation of FOG deposits in sewer line engineering structures. The main goals of this study were (1) to provide the sewer line workforce with a tool for predicting the accumulation of FOG deposits in sewer networks, especially when there are changes in commercial establishments; (2) to serve as a platform for integrating modern sewer inspection data and sensor deployment studies that are becoming more popular; and (3) to incorporate future advancements in machine learning and AI algorithms.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, including EPA SWMM input files, modified StormReactor code, and associated Python files.
References
Abdelmonem, Y., S. A. Ead, and S. A. Shabayek. 2005. “Effect of time on pipe roughness.” In Proc., 17th Canadian Hydrotechnical Conf. St. Surrey, BC, Canada: Canadian Society for Civil Engineering.
Achleitner, S., M. Möderl, and W. Rauch. 2007. “CITY DRAIN©—An open source approach for simulation of integrated urban drainage systems.” Environ. Modell. Software 22 (8): 1184–1195.
ASCE. 1982. Gravity sanitary sewer design and construction. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Aziz, T. N., L. M. Holt, K. M. Keener, J. W. Groninger, and J. J. Ducoste. 2012. “Field characterization of external grease abatement devices.” Water Environ. Res. 84 (3): 237–246. https://doi.org/10.2175/106143012X13347678384161.
Benecke, H. P., S. K. Allen, and D. B. Garbark. 2017. “Efficient fractionation and analysis of fatty acids and their salts in fat, oil and grease (FOG) deposits.” J. Oleo Sci. 66 (2): 123–131. https://doi.org/10.5650/jos.ess16135.
Benefield, L. A. 2002. Washington State Department of Health Rule Development Committee issue research report draft—Wastewater quality/strength/content. Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Health—Wastewater Management Program.
Cotte, M., E. Checroun, J. Susini, P. Dumas, P. Tchoreloff, M. Besnard, and P. Walter. 2006. “Kinetics of oil saponification by lead salts in ancient preparations of pharmaceutical lead plasters and painting lead mediums.” Talanta 70 (Sep): 1136–1142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2006.03.007.
Del Mundo, D. M. N., and M. Sutheerawattananonda. 2017. “Influence of fat and oil type on the yield, physico-chemical properties, and microstructure of fat, oil, and grease (FOG) deposits.” Water Res. 124 (Apr): 308–319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2017.07.047.
Dirksen, J., B. Egbert, J. Langeveld, and F. Clemens. 2012. “Analysis of fat, oil, and grease deposits in sagging sanitary sewers.” In Proc., 9th Int. Conf. of Urban Drainage Modelling. Delft, Netherlands: Delft Univ. of Technology.
Dominic, C. C. S., M. Szakasits, L. O. Dean, and J. J. Ducoste. 2013. “Understanding the spatial formation and accumulation of fats, oils and grease deposits in the sewer collection system.” Water Sci. Technol. 68 (Jun): 1830–1836. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2013.428.
Ducoste, J., K. Keener, and J. Groninger. 2009. Fats, roots, oils, and grease (FROG) in centralized and decentralized systems. Rep. No. WERF 03-CT-16T. Alexandria, VA: Water Environment Research Foundation.
Eliasson, J. 2004. Washington State Department of Health Rule Development Committee issue research report draft–Septic tank effluent values. Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Health—Wastewater Management Program.
Foubert, I., P. A. Verleger, B. Vanhoutte, and K. Dewettinck. 2002. “Dynamic mathematical model of the crystallization kinetics of fats.” Food Res. Int. 35 (Jul): 945–956. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0963-9969(02)00157-6.
Frost, W. H. 2006. “Minor loss coefficients for storm drain modeling with SWMM.” J. Water Manage. Modell. 225 (Nov): 23. https://doi.org/10.14796/JWMM.R225-23.
Gross, M., J. Jensen, H. Gracz, J. Dancer, and K. Keener. 2017. “Evaluation of physical and chemical properties and their interactions in fat, oil, and grease (FOG) deposits.” Water Res. 123 (Apr): 173–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2017.06.072.
Gutierrez-Padilla, M. G. D., A. Bielefeldt, S. Ovtchinnikov, M. Hernandez, and J. Silverstein. 2010. “Biogenic sulfuric acid attack on different types of commercially produced concrete sewer pipes.” Cem. Concr. Res. 40 (2): 293–301.
He, X., F. L. de los Reyes III, M. L. Leming, L. O. Dean, S. E. Lappi, and J. J. Ducoste. 2013. “Mechanisms of fat, oil and grease (FOG) deposit formation in sewer lines.” Water Res. 47 (Jun): 4451–4459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2013.05.002.
He, X., F. L. de Los Reyes III, and J. J. Ducoste. 2017. “A critical review of fat, oil, and grease (FOG) in sewer collection systems: Challenges and control.” Environ. Sci. Technol. 47 (8): 1191–1217. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2017.1382282.
He, X., M. Iasmin, L. O. Dean, S. E. Lappi, J. J. Ducoste, and F. L. de Los Reyes. 2011. “Evidence for fat, oil, and grease (FOG) deposit formation mechanisms in sewer lines.” Environ. Sci. Technol. 45 (10): 4385–4391. https://doi.org/10.1021/es2001997.
Iasmin, M., L. O. Dean, and J. J. Ducoste. 2016. “Quantifying fat, oil, and grease deposit formation kinetics.” Water Res. 88 (8): 786–795. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2015.11.009.
Iasmin, M., L. O. Dean, S. E. Lappi, and J. J. Ducoste. 2014. “Factors that influence properties of FOG deposits and their formation in sewer collection systems.” Water Res. 49 (Jun): 92–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2013.11.012.
Keener, K. M., J. J. Ducoste, and L. M. Holt. 2008. “Properties influencing fat, oil, and grease deposit formation.” Water Environ. Res. 80 (Apr): 2241–2246. https://doi.org/10.2175/193864708X267441.
Kusum, S. A., M. Pour-Ghaz, and J. J. Ducoste. 2020. “Reducing fat, oil, and grease (FOG) deposits formation and adhesion on sewer collection system structures through the use of fly ash replaced cement-based materials.” Water Res. 186 (21): 116304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2020.116304.
Liu, W., Y. He, Z. Liu, H. Luo, and T. Liu. 2023. “A bilevel data-driven method for sewer deposit prediction under uncertainty.” Water Res. 231 (Mar): 119588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2023.119588.
Marlow, D. R., F. Boulaire, D. J. Beale, C. Grundy, and M. Moglia. 2011. “Sewer performance reporting: Factors that influence blockages.” J. Infrastruct. Syst. 17 (1): 42–51. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)IS.1943-555X.0000041.
Mason, B. E., A. Mullapudi, and B. Kerkez. 2021a. “StormReactor: An open-source Python package for the integrated modeling of urban water quality and water balance.” Environ. Model. Software 145 (Nov): 105175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2021.105175.
Mason, B. E., A. Mullapudi, and B. Kerkez. 2021b. “StormReactor (v1.1).” Zenodo. Accessed June 8, 2021. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7110344.
Mattsson, J., A. Hedstrom, M. Viklander, and G.-T. Blecken. 2014. “Fat, oil, and grease accumulation in sewer systems: Comprehensive survey of experiences of Scandinavian municipalities.” J. Environ. Eng. 140 (3): 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EE.1943-7870.0000813.
McDonnell, B. E., K. Ratliff, M. E. Tryby, J. J. X. Wu, and A. Mullapudi. 2020. “PySWMM: The python interface to stormwater management model (SWMM).” J. Open Source Software 5 (52): 2292. https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.02292.
Mohandes, S. R., A. F. Kineber, S. Abdelkhalek, K. Kaddoura, M. Elseyed, M. R. Hosseini, and T. Zayed. 2022. “Evaluation of the critical factors causing sewer overflows through modeling of structural equations and system dynamics.” J. Cleaner Prod. 375 (Nov): 134035. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134035.
Morgan, M. G., and M. Henrion. 1990. Uncertainty: A guide to dealing with uncertainty in quantitative risk and policy analysis. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Mori, T., T. Nonaka, K. Tazaki, M. Koga, Y. Hikosaka, and S. Noda. 1992. “Interactions of nutrients, moisture, and pH on microbial corrosion of concrete sewer pipes.” Water Res. 26 (1): 29–37.
Papoulis, A. 1991. Probability, random variables, and stochastic processes. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Qasim, S. R. 1998. Wastewater treatment plants: Planning, design, and operation. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Rodríguez, J. P., N. McIntyre, M. Díaz-Granados, and Č. Maksimović. 2012. “A database and model to support proactive management of sediment-related sewer blockages.” Water Res. 46 (5): 4571–4586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2012.06.037.
Rossman, L. A. 2017. Storm water management model reference manual Volume II-Hydraulics. Cincinnati, OH: United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Rossman, L. A., and W. C. Huber. 2016. Storm water management model reference manual Volume III-Water quality. Cincinnati, OH: United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Sever, V. F., and H. Foust. 2011. “Effect of pipe sags on wastewater collection system performance.” Water Environ. Res. 83 (5): 358–367. https://doi.org/10.2175/106143010X12780288628778.
Ugarelli, R., S. M. Kristensen, J. Røstum, S. Sægrov, and V. Di Federico. 2009. “Statistical analysis and definition of blockages-prediction formulae for the wastewater network of Oslo by evolutionary computing.” Water Sci. Technol. 59 (8): 1457–1470. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2009.152.
USEPA. 2004. “Report to congress on impacts and control of combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows.” Accessed March 31, 2023. https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-10/documents/csossortc2004_full.pdf.
Williams, J. B., C. Clarkson, C. Mant, A. Drinkwater, and E. May. 2012. “Fat, oil and grease deposits in sewers: Characterisation of deposits and formation mechanisms.” Water Res. 46 (Jul): 6319–6328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2012.09.002.
Yousefelahiyeh, R., C. C. S. Dominic, and J. Ducoste. 2017. “Modeling fats, oil and grease deposit formation and accumulation in sewer collection systems.” J. Hydroinf. 19 (3): 443–455. https://doi.org/10.2166/hydro.2017.016.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 16, 2023
Accepted: Nov 27, 2023
Published online: Feb 14, 2024
Published in print: Apr 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Jul 14, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Case studies
- Engineering fundamentals
- Environmental engineering
- Infrastructure
- Laboratory tests
- Lifeline systems
- Methodology (by type)
- Pipe materials
- Pipe networks
- Pipeline management
- Pipeline materials
- Pipeline systems
- Pipes
- Research methods (by type)
- Sewers
- Systems engineering
- Systems management
- Tests (by type)
- Waste management
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.